“We don’t consider this a restructuring,” Dean Swindle, executive vice president, chief strategy officer and president of Novant Health Enterprises, told Becker’s. “Usually, restructuring implies fixing something. This is about moving to the next level of our strategic plan, building off our capabilities and successes.”
A key component of Novant Health’s strategy is redefining the role of hospitals within the broader healthcare ecosystem. While hospitals remain essential, the system is optimizing care settings to improve efficiency, affordability and accessibility.
“Hospitals are large, complex and expensive,” Mr. Swindle said. “We need to redefine how they fit into the ecosystem. For example, we have a neurology group with higher-acuity cases that ideally should be in an ambulatory hospital. But because our hospital is at 90% capacity and our ASC is only at 50%, we’re shifting cases to lower-cost settings to free up hospital capacity for more critical patients.”
This transition aligns with Novant Health’s broader push toward lower-cost, high-quality settings over traditional hospital outpatient departments. The health system has already secured new contracts with Blue Cross of North Carolina and Blue Cross of South Carolina to move outpatient surgeries, imaging and pharmacy services into more cost-effective sites.
“We have made the statement that we will be transitioning away from any hospital outpatient department settings over time,” Mr. Swindle said. “This is about affordability and convenience.”
A new leadership model to support growth
To execute this vision, Novant Health is realigning its leadership structure by establishing acute and ambulatory operating units and introducing a regional market-based leadership model. The system has formalized four initial regions—Charlotte, Coastal, South Carolina and Triad—with plans for additional regions as it expands.
Each region will be led by a senior vice president and president focused on integrated, patient-centered care. Among key leadership changes:
- John Gizdic, executive vice president and COO, will oversee acute care, integrated care solutions, and nursing and clinical services in the Triad and Coastal regions.
- Dean Swindle will lead ambulatory care, value-based care initiatives and Novant Health Enterprises across the Charlotte and South Carolina regions.
- Saad Ehtisham has been appointed senior vice president and president of acute operations, while a new senior vice president and president of ambulatory operations will be recruited.
- Sid Fletcher, MD, Ernie Bovio and Jason Bernd have been named senior vice president and president of the Charlotte, Coastal and South Carolina regions, respectively. A Triad Region president is also being recruited.
Additionally, Novant Health is elevating nursing and clinical services by adding two senior vice presidents dedicated to improving integrated care solutions such as pharmacy and home health. Michael Vaccaro, DNP, RN, and Becky Bean, PharmD, will take on expanded roles in these areas.
Novant Health Enterprises expands its influence
A critical part of this leadership realignment is the growing role of Novant Health Enterprises, the system’s business division launched in 2022. The division will drive clinical, operational and technological advancements while fostering new affiliations with care providers and investing in employees.
Looking ahead: The future of Novant Health
Novant Health’s long-term vision includes expanding smaller, community-centric ambulatory hospitals with fewer than 100 beds, strategically placed for greater accessibility.
“Even on the ambulatory side, we’re redefining what hospitals look like,” Mr. Swindle said. “Some will be more closely aligned with ambulatory facilities rather than traditional tertiary hospitals. The key question we’re asking is: What does the hospital of the future look like?”
