As hospital and health systems continue to face challenges like rising costs, reimbursement, emerging from COVID-19 margins and potential policy changes, many CFOs are working to find strategies to ensure financial sustainability while maintaining patient care.

Pittsburgh-based UPMC posted a $338.9 million operating loss (-1.1 operating margin) in 2024, compared to an operating loss of $198.3 million (-0.7 margin) in 2023, according to its Feb. 28 financial report. 

A strong CEO-CFO partnership remains as important as ever as health systems navigate ever-growing series of challenges, ranging from regulatory uncertainty to tight margins. 

There are countless projections about the worsening U.S. physician shortage, especially as the aging population grows and requires higher acuity care. Lots of attention is paid to supporting the medical student pipeline, but the healthcare industry might be overlooking the other end: retirements.

The last five years at San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare have been defined by major infrastructure and technology investments, including its systemwide 2024 launch of an Epic EHR system, President and CEO Chris Howard told Becker's.

Pharmacy leaders across the country are implementing initiatives to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance patient care.  

Joseph Webb, DSc, CEO of Nashville (Tenn.) General Hospital, will step down following an investigation into allegations of fraud, wasteful spending and policy violations occurring at the executive level of the safety-net facility, multiple media outlets reported.

Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare has completed the purchase of Lehigh Acres, Fla.-based Lehigh Regional Medical Center, from Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare.

More than 500 hospitals nationwide have removed questions on physicians' mental health from licensing or credentialing applications, according to the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation.

A number of healthcare organizations have recently closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages.

Many factors affect a hospital's financial performance. External pressures, inflation, reimbursements and workforce shortages can hit hospitals hard. But there are also internal management similarities between the lowest performing hospitals that are hard to ignore.

Covington, La.-based St. Tammany Health System has partnered with software company Inflo Health to enhance the system's radiology services, according to a Feb. 20 news release shared with Becker's. 

It's been more than two years since the University of Chicago Medicine and Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth began their joint venture on Jan. 1, 2023, and it's the shared goals, commitment to transparency and mutual trust that have kept this partnership going strong.

Looming federal Medicaid cuts could shift a massive financial burden to state governments, potentially requiring them to make up between $700 billion and $1.1 trillion in funding over the next decade, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Canon Healthcare USA, a subsidiary of Canon, will establish its U.S. headquarters in a Cleveland Clinic-adjacent building located in the Cleveland Innovation District. 

Abha Agrawal, MD, has resigned as president and CEO of Lawrence (Mass.) General Hospital and Holy Family Hospitals.

Private equity firm Sycamore Partners plans to split Walgreens Boots Alliance into three independent businesses if it successfully acquires the drugstore chain private, The Financial Times reported Feb. 27.   

President Donald Trump confirmed that 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, along with a 10% additional tariff on Chinese imports, will take effect March 4, according to a Feb. 27 post to Truth Social. 

Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health is focused on expanding value-based care programs in 2025.

Erik Wexler, president and CEO of Renton, Wash.-based Providence, met with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to explore the future of AI in healthcare, Politico reported Feb. 27.