May 2026 Issue of Becker’s Hospital Review
On The Cover
Timothy Pehrson, CEO, Integris Health
As health systems move beyond an era defined by geographic expansion and scale, CEOs are beginning to rethink a fundamental question: What counts as growth today?
Amy Perry, President and CEO, Banner Health
Healthcare is at an inflection point. Economic pressures are mounting, reimbursement is compressing, and AI is rapidly reshaping what’s possible — both clinically and operationally. For executives across the country, the question is no longer whether transformation is coming, but whether their organizations are ready for it.
Tony Seupaul, MD, Chief Physician Executive, Carilion Clinic
Nonprofit hospitals have faced intense scrutiny in recent years, with attention focused on billion-dollar revenue figures, high-profile capital projects and whether tax-exempt systems provide sufficient community benefit.
Rob Chestnut, CFO, LMH Health
Lawrence, Kan.-based LMH Health is developing a local talent pipeline, which has become one of the system’s highest priorities in 2026.
Kenny Yu, PharmD, SVP and Chief Pharmacy Officer, Mount Sinai Health System
Kenny Yu, PharmD, recently stepped into his role as senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System with a focus on integration across care settings and within broader health system strategy.
Debra Jaeger, MSN, RN, Chief Revenue Officer, Mount Sinai Health System
In 2025, Debra Jaeger, MSN, RN, was hired as New York City-based Mount Sinai’s first chief revenue officer, tasked with unifying the system’s fragmented revenue cycle.
The healthcare transformation divide
Healthcare is at an inflection point. Economic pressures are mounting, reimbursement is compressing, and AI is rapidly reshaping what’s possible — both clinically and operationally. For executives across the country, the question is no longer whether transformation is coming, but whether their organizations are ready for it.
Atrium Health, WakeMed plan merger, face delay: 6 things to know
Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health and Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals announced on May 1 plans to combine into a single health system, which the organizations said involves a $2 billion investment in Wake County (N.C.) to expand facilities, grow the workforce and broaden care access across North Carolina.
Will AI finally free clinicians from the keyboard?
While AI may not replace the EHR anytime soon, it will “fundamentally change” it, potentially relieving clinicians of the need to type on a keyboard, CIOs told Becker’s.
Health systems shrink the payer-provider gap
For decades, the adversarial relationship between payers and providers has been treated as an immutable feature of American healthcare — a friction built into the system’s DNA. Increasingly, health system leaders are taking matters into their own hands.
Why health systems are flocking to Florida — and what it means for patients
Health systems are rapidly expanding into Florida through partnerships, affiliations and new builds, raising questions about whether the Sunshine State’s healthcare landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented and more difficult for patients to navigate.
Inside Mount Sinai’s push to unify pharmacy care
Kenny Yu, PharmD, recently stepped into his role as senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System with a focus on integration across care settings and within broader health system strategy.
‘Our stockholders are the members of our community’: Inside Carilion Clinic’s mission-driven margin strategy
Nonprofit hospitals have faced intense scrutiny in recent years, with attention focused on billion-dollar revenue figures, high-profile capital projects and whether tax-exempt systems provide sufficient community benefit.
COOs’ role gains complexity amid outpatient care shift
As technology advances and care shifts toward outpatient, virtual and community-based settings, the role of the COO is also evolving. For leaders in this position, that means new skill sets and a broader range of focuses, from managing hospital operations to coordinating complex, widely distributed networks of care.
Rural healthcare leaders bet on care redesign, workforce investments
One in 3 U.S. rural hospitals are at risk of closure, according to a January analysis. And nearly 70% of rural counties across the country are designated as health professional shortage areas, according to the National Rural Health Association.
Health systems reengineer access to care
Access to care has always been a stated priority in healthcare. What’s different now is that health system executives are treating it as an engineering problem that requires structural redesign, not just additional capacity.
AI regrets? Health systems learn lessons from the early boom
In the early days of the AI boom, health systems often jumped at the chance to try out the latest tool.
The financial incentives nurses crave
Across the nation, hospitals and universities are implementing financial incentive programs to recruit new and experienced nurses.
The ‘grow your own’ mentality at LMH Health
Lawrence, Kan.-based LMH Health is developing a local talent pipeline, which has become one of the system’s highest priorities in 2026.
What it takes to sustain engagement among Gen Z nurses: 6 things to know
Generation Z nurses require more frequent one-on-one interaction with managers and leaders than prior generations to maintain similar levels of engagement and retention, according to a March 25 report from Laudio and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership.
AI will transform, not replace, RCM jobs
Many hospital and health system revenue cycle leaders have pushed back on a consistent fear surrounding artificial intelligence: that it could eliminate jobs.
CFO Finance
Atrium Health, WakeMed plan merger, face delay: 6 things to know
Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health and Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals announced on May 1 plans to combine into a single health system, which the organizations said involves a $2 billion investment in Wake County (N.C.) to expand facilities, grow the workforce and broaden care access across North Carolina.
The ‘grow your own’ mentality at LMH Health
Lawrence, Kan.-based LMH Health is developing a local talent pipeline, which has become one of the system’s highest priorities in 2026.
‘Our stockholders are the members of our community’: Inside Carilion Clinic’s mission-driven margin strategy
Nonprofit hospitals have faced intense scrutiny in recent years, with attention focused on billion-dollar revenue figures, high-profile capital projects and whether tax-exempt systems provide sufficient community benefit.
Hospitals have ‘tenuous’ financial outlook
While average hospital margins ticked up from 1% in January to 1.9% in February, they are still well below 3%-plus margins hospitals reported in the second half of 2025, according to Kaufman Hall’s National Hospital Flash Report, released April 9.
CFOs as strategists: How finance leaders are rewriting their role
Today’s modern hospital and health system CFO has evolved from the behind-the-desk, numbers-cruncher role of even 10 to 20 years ago.
CEO Strategy
Rural healthcare leaders bet on care redesign, workforce investments
One in 3 U.S. rural hospitals are at risk of closure, according to a January analysis. And nearly 70% of rural counties across the country are designated as health professional shortage areas, according to the National Rural Health Association.
Health systems reengineer access to care
Access to care has always been a stated priority in healthcare. What’s different now is that health system executives are treating it as an engineering problem that requires structural redesign, not just additional capacity.
5 lessons from women CEOs on leading under pressure: McKinsey
The CEO role is widely seen as one of the most demanding positions in business, often marked by isolation and constant pressure. For women, those challenges can be more pronounced due to underrepresentation, heightened scrutiny and narrower room for missteps, according to a March 20 McKinsey article.
IU Health CEO’s ‘what-not-to-do’ takeaways from ‘The Pitt’
A roughly 30-second clip of a hospital CEO on “The Pitt” left Dennis Murphy, president and CEO of Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health, with two key takeaways on what leaders should avoid.
Health systems redefine growth in 2026
As health systems move beyond an era defined by geographic expansion and scale, CEOs are beginning to rethink a fundamental question: What counts as growth today?
COO
COOs’ role gains complexity amid outpatient care shift
As technology advances and care shifts toward outpatient, virtual and community-based settings, the role of the COO is also evolving. For leaders in this position, that means new skill sets and a broader range of focuses, from managing hospital operations to coordinating complex, widely distributed networks of care.
The healthcare transformation divide
Healthcare is at an inflection point. Economic pressures are mounting, reimbursement is compressing, and AI is rapidly reshaping what’s possible — both clinically and operationally. For executives across the country, the question is no longer whether transformation is coming, but whether their organizations are ready for it.
No more ‘old school’: How Duke Health is reimagining workforce development
Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health is taking a multipronged approach to tackling workforce shortages: investing in early education pipelines, raising minimum wages and leaning into technology to stretch its existing staff further.
Clinical Leadership
The financial incentives nurses crave
Across the nation, hospitals and universities are implementing financial incentive programs to recruit new and experienced nurses.
Why health systems are flocking to Florida — and what it means for patients
Health systems are rapidly expanding into Florida through partnerships, affiliations and new builds, raising questions about whether the Sunshine State’s healthcare landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented and more difficult for patients to navigate.
What it takes to sustain engagement among Gen Z nurses: 6 things to know
Generation Z nurses require more frequent one-on-one interaction with managers and leaders than prior generations to maintain similar levels of engagement and retention, according to a March 25 report from Laudio and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership.
How 3 hospitals are bringing nurses back to the bedside
Hospitals and health systems are adjusting their “boomerang” recruitment strategies to bring nurses back to the bedside.
CIO
Will AI finally free clinicians from the keyboard?
While AI may not replace the EHR anytime soon, it will “fundamentally change” it, potentially relieving clinicians of the need to type on a keyboard, CIOs told Becker’s.
AI regrets? Health systems learn lessons from the early boom
In the early days of the AI boom, health systems often jumped at the chance to try out the latest tool.
Are health systems’ enterprise IT platforms stifling innovation?
Many health systems are opting for a single EHR and enterprise resource planning system, relying on foundational enterprise platforms for much of their technology needs.
Health systems are leaving EHR value on the table
Health systems spend years and hundreds of millions of dollars implementing EHRs, yet two healthcare CIOs say a significant share of that investment remains untapped.
PHARMACY
The big bets 20 pharmacy leaders are making right now
Becker’s asked pharmacy executives from hospitals and health systems, along with academic medical centers and universities across the U.S. to share their most innovative idea they’re bringing to their organization.
Pharmacy leaders weigh experience over NAPLEX scores
Hospital and health system leaders say they are placing greater emphasis on real-world experience, clinical judgment and cultural fit when evaluating pharmacist candidates, while standardized exam scores play a minimal role in hiring decisions.
Vertical integration reshapes pharmacy, payer landscape
Vertical integration across insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, specialty pharmacies and healthcare providers continues to reshape the U.S. drug supply chain, according to a Drug Channels report released April 14.
Inside Mount Sinai’s push to unify pharmacy care
Kenny Yu, PharmD, recently stepped into his role as senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System with a focus on integration across care settings and within broader health system strategy.
CHRO
Healthcare’s role clarity problem
There is a deepening crack in the foundation of healthcare: the lack of clarity in job descriptions.
MercyOne names CHRO
Brooke Thrasher has been appointed chief human resources officer of Des Moines, Iowa-based MercyOne.
Southcoast Health creates 12-officer force to combat workplace violence
New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health has created an in-house police department within its division of police and public safety, the system confirmed in a statement shared with Becker’s.
The ‘learning community’ AdventHealth leans on to upskill its workforce
As health systems face workforce challenges and rising complexity, Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth is shifting from episodic, mandatory training to a culture of continuous learning across more than 100,000 team members.
RCM Leader
True ROI of health tech, according to finance leaders
In revenue cycle and finance, the pressure to demonstrate a clear, measurable return on technology investment has never been greater. Health systems are being asked to do more with less — reduce denials, accelerate cash flow, lower the cost to collect, and free up staff to focus on higher-value work — all while navigating an increasingly complex payer landscape. For finance and revenue cycle leaders, technology is no longer a back-office convenience; it is a strategic lever that can determine whether an organization operates in the black or struggles to sustain its mission.
AI will transform, not replace, RCM jobs
Many hospital and health system revenue cycle leaders have pushed back on a consistent fear surrounding artificial intelligence: that it could eliminate jobs.
How Mount Sinai is transforming its revenue cycle
In 2025, Debra Jaeger, MSN, RN, was hired as New York City-based Mount Sinai’s first chief revenue officer, tasked with unifying the system’s fragmented revenue cycle.
What’s stressing out revenue cycle leaders?
Payer challenges remain the top stressor for revenue cycle leaders, according to an April 7 report from Guidehouse.
The big mistake health systems make in revenue cycle tech contracts
There is no shortage of healthcare technology vendors promising to transform revenue cycle operations. There is, however, a persistent gap between what gets sold and what gets measured, and many health system leaders trace that gap to the same root cause: metrics defined too late, or not at all.