The Healthcare Financial Management Association on June 27 inducted Mayo Clinic CFO Dennis Dahlen into office as chairman of its board of directors for the 2023-2024 term.
Mr. Dahlen has served as CFO of the Rochester, Minn.-based health system since 2017, according to a June 27 HFMA news release. As board chairman, Mr. Dahlen will be responsible for providing overall direction for the association by establishing policies, appointing key leaders, planning educational programs and presenting the organization at various events.
"We lag the developed world in results, health disparities, mortality" he said in a May 30 article on the HFMA's website, adding that the United States is "multiples above other developed nations in terms of what it costs us to get the results we have."
He also said that in his 40-year healthcare career, now is the first time he can recall seeing historically strong industry players, such as large health systems with strong market positions, struggle financially, according to the article.
Mr. Dahlen said workforce concerns are a key driver of hospitals' recent struggles.
"We're not as desirable relative to other options as we have been," he said, citing increased hostility toward clinical and lingering stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We're losing the hearts and minds of a whole slice of the workforce that we used to be attractive to."
He said solutions may include steps such as shortening the amount of time required to earn licensure as a registered nurse, according to the article. He also said the industry needs to become more efficient.
"We're bad at doing what every other industry does: When labor gets scarce or expensive, you use technology to replace it or to make it less scarce or less expensive," he said. "Our history is we've grown almost in lockstep. If we grow 1 percent, we've increased our workforce by 1 percent."