Mr. Burns also instituted ground-breaking policies that offered uninsured and underinsured patients the same generous discounts for medical care that Medicare patients receive. He emphasized the hospital’s focus on quality by offering employees incentive payments when they help reduce hospital-acquired infections.
He also implemented a plan that rewards employees for meeting fitness goals. As physicians lament the high incidence of obesity and heart disease among Americans, Mr. Burns encourages his colleagues to exercise and urged UMC to become the title sponsor of the El Tour de Tucson bike race three years ago.
Mr. Burns was appointed president and CEO of UMC on Feb. 1, 2010. Prior to coming to the Tucson hospital, he was a partner with the international accounting firm of Arthur Andersen, responsible for Andersen’s Desert Southwest Healthcare Practice. He has presented nationally on healthcare industry topics, including the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and managed care contracting in the acute-care environment.
Mr. Burns is past president of the Arizona chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, as well as a featured speaker at HFMA events. He has served as an adjunct professor of accounting at the University of Arizona, where he taught intermediate accounting and financial statement analysis.
An avid cyclist, Mr. Burns earned his account degree from Arizona State University in 1981 and became a CPA in 1984.
Read more on notable hospital leaders:
–Hospital Leader to Know: Dean Harrison of Northwestern Memorial Healthcare
–Hospital Leader to Know: Debbie Hay of Texas Institute of Surgery
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