Jim is a senior healthcare executive with nearly 30 years’ experience in guiding the strategic and operational direction of integrated healthcare systems.  A proven leader with a diversity of experience, an understanding of the challenges facing healthcare and the array of approaches to their solutions. A bias for action and building strong leadership teams.

Sub-Specialties

  • Performance and margin improvement
  • Specialized Subject Matter Expert projects including finance organization assessments and restructures
  • Business planning and outsourcing strategies including implementation
  • SWOT-based long-range strategic capital and financial planning and implementation
  • Community information sharing (HIE) strategies
  • System integration, acquisitions and hospital closure asset rationalization strategies
  • Turnaround planning and implementation including revenue development and cost management
  • Integration and centralization of accounting, business office and shared services
  • Former CFO Role: Catholic Health Partners (Now Mercy Health), Cincinnati, & Augusta Health, Fishersville, VA

Professional Experience

Prior to joining Warbird‘s CFO Consulting Network, Jim served as the CFO for Catholic Health Partners (CHP), a $5 Billion, faith-based, healthcare system that operates over 20 hospitals in 2 states as well as long-term care, home health and hospice programs. Jim was a Chief Operating Officer and Interim regional CEO during his 14 years with CHP. Prior to joining CHP, Jim was a Finance Vice-president for Adventist Health Systems (AHS) where his 15 year career saw a steady progression of responsibility from controller of Florida Hospital to a regional CFO and corporate vice president. Over the 30 years in healthcare he accomplished the following:

  • Raised the question that lead in part to a strategic assessment of the company’s portfolio that moved the organization to a more geographically centric strategy rather than as broad a multi-state approach.
  • Redefined the governance finance oversight process to focus on four key elements of success that balance operational and strategic expectation while merging these into the rating agency and capital planning processes. The organization has been recognized as a best practice for its governance and investor disclosure processes.
  • Participated in the negotiations of several $250 million plus sales/acquisitions that repositioned the organization for the more geographically centric strategy that better positioned it for population health and the Health Exchanges.
  • A key member of the negotiating team that resulted in a breakthrough in the approach to establishing market presence increased state market share by over 20%.
  • The key financial leader in the acquisition of Kaiser Permanente – Ohio that positioned the organization for population health and the role of a health plan, physician and acute operations in that solution.
  • Focused fiscal strategy on the interdependent nature of the investment, insurance, debt and pension strategies to optimize financial flexibility.
  • Moved from a defined benefit (DB) to a defined contribution (DC) pension plan with the DB plan nearly 100% funded.
  • Presented to rating agencies, investment bankers and insurers and annual investor conferences.
  • Resolved bond covenant compliance issues that rose out of the 2007-2008 financial meltdown.
  • Standardized and centralized the finance operations of a $5 billion health system improving services while reducing cost by over 15%.
  • Redefined the financial planning process that resulted in a five year strategic, capital and operating and forecasting approach that focused management on longer term objectives and short term opportunities. Strategy and operations were significantly influenced by this process.
  • Transitioned revenue cycle to a partial outsourced model that reduced capital cost by $30 million and will move costs to the 90th percentile.
  • Refocused the organization from building a new hospital to developing the ”Optimal Health Solution” for the community focused on an outpatient and physician partnering strategy.
  • Led staffing operational initiatives that became the approach for the organization reducing cost by over 20% with quartile to decile results.
  • Redefined the supply chain management process, decreasing costs to below quartile benchmarks.
  • Facilitated numerous operational turnarounds.
  • Balanced operational and strategic needs by implementing a capital allocation process that incorporated maximized opportunities while focusing on strategy and mission objectives.
  • Led the implementation of an organization wide managed care contract management system.
  • Developed and implemented one of the first organizational wide healthcare cost accounting systems in the country