Hospital and health system CEOs navigating the sector’s financial and operational challenges are rethinking what growth means and how their organizations deliver care.
To better understand this shift, Becker’s asked CEOs:
What is the most unexpected growth area you’re homing in on now — and why?
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Robert Corona, DO. CEO of Upstate University, Community and Golisano Children’s Hospitals (Syracuse, N.Y.): Our growth is primarily in emergency services, urgent care and specialty care services where our population is growing. I don’t know if we could characterize these as “unexpected,” but some literature has outlined a decline in need for such services. We received $450 million from New York state to build an addition which will house a new emergency department about three times the size of the present one and larger burn unit. We are working with consultants now on the rest of the design for the addition.
We have built satellite cancer centers in areas of population growth as well as an after hours pediatric care center. We are building a pathology institute to consolidate our pathology services which will also free up space for direct patient care. This institute will also have the vertiport for our drone specimen and medication courier services. We try to stay on top of trends so there are no areas of “unexpected growth.”
John Couris. President and CEO at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital: As Tampa General has become fully integrated, both clinically and financially, with USF Health, and leads the Tampa Bay region as the only academic health system, we continue to see an influx of complex medical and surgical cases at both our main medical center campus on Davis Islands, as well as across our system.
This increase in volume is providing additional opportunities for growth. We are responding to meet this need — while continuing to fulfill the tenets of academic medicine in medical education, research and world-class care — through major expansion projects, strategic partnerships, and investments in advanced technology and specialized training. Our strategy combines infrastructure development, an innovative clinical management model, and world-class expertise to meet the needs of those who seek our care both in Tampa Bay and beyond.
Wayne Gillis, RN. President and CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (Gallup, N.M.): The most unexpected growth area I’m focused on right now isn’t a new service line — it’s how we rethink operations and workforce models. If we can reduce waste, support our staff differently, and improve access with tools like AI, we unlock growth without adding cost. That shift — from expansion by addition to expansion by reinvention — is where the real opportunity lies.
Barbara Martin, BSN. CEO of BJM Healthcare Consulting and Former CEO of St. Joseph Medical Center (Joliet, Ill.): The unexpected growth area is telehealth in a clinical specialty. This is prompting C-suites to reevaluate physicians’ employment status, as well as quality, efficiency and cost-cutting measures.
Andrew Molosky. President and CEO of Chapters Health System (Temple Terrace, Fla.): The phrase “never let a crisis go to waste” is most often attributed to Winston Churchill but independent of its origin it is highly relevant. In times of such uncertainty regarding the direction of many people’s healthcare coverage ranging from Medicaid to the ACA organizations whose mission is nonprofit service are seeing more need than likely predicted. Our business is no exception. While it is certainly challenging from an operations and funding perspective, the reality is that we are an organization whose mission is to care for all in need. This turbulent landscape we are living through certainly is opportunistic from a growth perspective.
Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD. President of University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston); CEO of UTMB Health System: UTMB’s most unexpected growth has been in pharmacy, where retail and specialty services have delivered more than 30% compound annual growth rate over the past three years. We are sharpening our focus on pharmacy and gene therapy as the next frontiers of growth. In gene therapy, our integrated clinical and operational model is enabling patients to gain access in record time — making access the common thread across all our growth.
At Becker's 4th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, taking place November 2–5 in Chicago, more than 1,500 hospital and health system executives tackle decisions that determine whether organizations thrive or merely survive: protecting margins under cost pressure, choosing where to grow, renegotiating payer relationships, stabilizing the workforce and proving real ROI on technology. This is where leaders work through them together, face-to-face. Apply for complimentary registration now.