Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare is facing similar financial challenges to multiple health and hospital systems across the country and recently unveiled its Project Bedrock plans to mitigate some of those challenges. Becker's took the opportunity to talk with ChristianaCare's CFO, Rob McMurray, about the initiative and other focus areas for the system.
ChristianaCare operates three hospitals with more than 1,200 beds in Delaware and Maryland, a freestanding emergency department and several other facilities, employing over 13,000 people.
Question: You discussed your Project Bedrock initiative at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference earlier this year. Where are you on that? And what are some of the tangible initiatives?
Rob McMurray: The project is going well. We have a lot of work to do, but I'm confident we are going to execute. The purpose is to strengthen our annual cash flow and ensure that the changes we make are sustainable so that we can execute on our strategy. We have to build a sustainable foundation. We have a focus on patient flow and efficiencies, and we are also optimizing our supply chains so that we are working to make the right changes and provide the resources to match our aspirations. We are changing the fundamentals and making tangible improvements along the way. Exactly how long that will all take, we don't know yet.
Q: Moody's recently said Christiana would likely return to near pre-pandemic level margins over the medium term, while S&P issued a negative outlook in October. How do you view all that?
RM: We were already transforming ourselves pre-pandemic into much more of a value-based care organization with a different payer mix. We are continuing to push forward with that. The economic landscape has been in a state of transformation, and we have continued to make that commitment to value-based care and population health.
Q: There is a lot of discussion around the need for mergers and acquisitions in these challenging financial times for hospitals and health systems. How does Christiana view that?
RM: Growth is very important for Christiana — we have shown that with our growth in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. To be successful in the new world there is a need for scale, and I think our growth illustrates that. We are mission-oriented and that is shown in our main mission, which is our ability to provide high quality and convenient care for our patients.