Shelly Schorer stepped into the role of CFO for Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health’s South Region on March 1, bringing nearly a decade of financial leadership experience from the health system’s California operations to a region spanning seven markets across Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, North Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.
“It’s a new challenge, and there’s nothing like a new challenge to really give you some new mojo,” Ms. Schorer told Becker’s.
CommonSpirit’s South Region encompasses 42 acute-care, specialty and critical access hospitals, more than 31,000 employees, more than 1,500 providers across over 350 locations, and multiple ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, urgent care sites and cancer centers, according to Ms. Schorer’s LinkedIn page.
It is also a hub for medical education, with more than 2,900 residents, fellows and medical students affiliated with institutions like Baylor College of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine.
“They are in turnaround situations in some of the markets, and that is an expertise of mine,” she said.
The move is not only professional, but personal. After spending nine years building out the California division “a bite size at a time,” Ms. Schorer now gets to move back to her home state of Missouri to carry out the work of the new region.
As she continues to settle into the new role, revenue cycle and standardization are two main priorities in the South Region.
“We’ve got to hit some targets,” she said. “Not just my region, but in order to create more cash to reinvest into our systems, we have to create a better margin, making sure that we are not wasteful in our costs. [But] we’re excellent on patient flow, with quality as an emphasis.”
She is also focused on broader headwinds facing systems nationally, like commercial payer denials, documentation complexity and pressure on government reimbursement, including reductions to ACA expansion and supplemental payments, which are straining hospitals across the country.
“Our costs are outpacing our reimbursement,” Ms. Schorer said. “The commercial payers have AI, and they’re better at it than we are right now.”
Ms. Schorer said despite industry challenges, her approach in the new role will mirror lessons learned throughout her time in healthcare: Listen first before doing anything, and learn before making changes.
“Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio and Kentucky, they’re new to me,” she said. “Learning their challenges, their competitors and their markets, that’s the most important thing. Listen, learn and try to bring support to the teams.”
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