Katie Keim, senior vice president and CFO of Springfield, Ill.-based Memorial Health, has been with the five-hospital health system for 20 years and in her current role since 2019, but her roots in the community it serves go back even further.
“I was actually raised in the Springfield, Illinois area,” Ms. Keim said during a Becker’s CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast episode. “I have a really amazing team who all also have a really impressive longevity with Memorial Health.”
While recruitment and retention challenges remain a top challenge for many hospitals and health systems across the U.S., Ms. Keim said Memorial Health has been fortunate with employee longevity, recognizing the right people for specific roles early on.
“[We’re] doing everything we can to really mentor and give those individuals opportunities…to put themselves in front of a larger audience and gain that credibility with other individuals,” she said. “Keeping that eye on young talent and not being afraid [or] intimidated by the most talented individuals around you to really help grow and promote them…seeing their careers develop in the future is just a very rewarding and exciting experience.”
Along with a strong workforce, Ms. Keim also highlighted several strategic priorities for Memorial Health, including its transition to a systemwide use of Epic. With a go-live date planned for 2027, Ms. Keim stressed that while costly, the investment is vital for long-term operational efficiency, revenue cycle improvement and patient engagement.
Memorial Health has also partnered with a consulting firm to model total cost of ownership and ensure readiness and financial transparency ahead of Epic’s launch.
“We’re calling this an Epic readiness engagement, so all of that traditional post implementation optimization work that’s done after a go-live, we’re trying to push that up to the front end and do everything we can now, even before the official project kickoff,” she said.
Memorial Health also welcomed a new president and CEO, Mandy Eaton, PhD, April 1, following Ed Curtis’s retirement after 50 years of service at the health system. Ms. Keim said she is excited to be working with Dr. Eaton to discuss fresh ideas for the health system.
“We’re also in the process of developing a new strategic plan,” Ms. Keim said. “We always say, bigger is not always better, and we have to be smart about how we grow and in choosing the right partners. We also take our responsibility as an independent health system very seriously. With that, we continue to focus on financial sustainability work so that we’re able to reinvest in our workforce, our facilities and our equipment.”
