Jason Hinkle’s path to CFO of Deaconess Illinois, a member of Evansville, Ind.-based Deaconess Health System, might look a little less traditional than other journeys to the healthcare finance C-suite, but the route helped him become the leader he is today – literally.
After launching his career at Ernst & Young in Atlanta with a focus on healthcare clients, Mr. Hinkle took an unconventional turn, spending four years at Enterprise Mobility, a well-known mobility services company. He served as both a senior accountant for two years and an accounting supervisor for two years.
“I … really felt a calling to come back to the healthcare space,” Mr. Hinkle said during a Becker’s “CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast” episode.
Mr. Hinkle then served as finance manager, financial planning and analysis, for Charlotte N.C.-based Advocate Health’s Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill., and regional director of finance operations for Maywood, Ill.-based Loyola Medicine before joining Deaconess Illinois in October, where he oversees four hospitals.
However, the lessons Mr. Hinkle took from Enterprise, like strong customer service and a performance-based compensation model, didn’t remain in the parking lot.
“At Enterprise, everyone’s compensation, from a branch manager onward, is a fixed rate, and everything from then on is based on a percentage of your bottom line,” he said. “Everyone across the organization is incentivized to really hone in on how their operation is running, because it directly impacts their own compensation.”
Deaconess Illinois has also embedded some of Enterprise’s philosophy into its own model, with 2025 marking the first implementation of a compensation model tying part of frontline leaders’ pay to the performance of their respective departments against budget.
“It really gives our frontline leaders a ‘skin in the game’ of how, if your departments win and if you’re operating at a really great level, you feel that personally,” he said. “I think that’s something Enterprise really did great, and I think Deaconess is doing the exact same thing of giving people personal incentive beyond just their own role and expectations around the role to perform at a high level.”
Mr. Hinkle also said a “CEO of your area” mindset with his team has helped encourage department leaders to surface strong ideas and cost-saving opportunities that might not be featured on a spreadsheet.
Looking toward the future, Mr. Hinkle is zeroed in on ensuring strong margins, strategic capital investment and long-term thinking pertaining to artificial intelligence and technology advancements.
“AI five years ago sounded crazy to anybody,” he said. “We are at every angle trying to implement that into our daily operations.”
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