Rural hospitals provide access to health services for communities that may otherwise face barriers to quality care. CFOs of rural hospitals play a key role in ensuring that hospital operations run smoothly.
Becker's is pleased to honor the following rural hospital CFOs. We received nominations for this list and chose members based on their leadership roles and accomplishments. Individuals do not pay and cannot pay to be featured.
Members are listed in alphabetical order. Contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com for more information about this list.
Christine Asato. Regional CFO of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation-Kauai Region (Kauai, Hawaii). Ms. Asato, a financial healthcare management executive with over 21 years of experience, is responsible for revenue cycle, financial reporting, treasury management, financial analyses, and information technology for the Kauai region of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. She also formulates and implements the financial strategies for the region. Before joining the Kauai region, Ms. Asato acted as the State of Hawaii's lead practice facilitator for the comprehensive primary care program and served as the director of internal audit and then the director of business intelligence at Hawaii Health Systems. As CFO, she is known for upholding high performance and ethical standards.
Rebecca Busch. CFO of Spooner (Wis.) Health. Ms. Busch oversees the financial operations of Spooner Health, a successful critical access hospital. She provides leadership to the revenue cycle management, materials management, IT, HIPAA, compliance and dietary departments. She is able to blend an understanding of finance with an understanding of people, allowing her to lead with empathy. She orients new leaders to their fiscal responsibilities by distilling information in a way that is easily understood even by those without a background in finance. In addition to her role as CFO, she is also a HIPAA privacy officer.
Mark Gross. Vice President and CFO of Hillsdale Hospital (Hillsdale, Mich.). Mr. Gross leads the Hillsdale Hospital's financial initiatives. His duties include overseeing budgets, managing contracts, leading fiscal services, directing revenue cycle and patient accounts, leading all accounting processes and providing financial analyses. Since joining the hospital in 2018, he has worked to streamline budget processes and create revenue cycle efficiencies. For instance, he oversaw the implementation of software that took the budgeting process from cumbersome and manual to easy and efficient. He also renegotiated payer contracts that secured better reimbursement rates with commercial insurance providers, which resulted in millions of dollars of added revenue. Having previously served as CFO at North Ottawa Community Health system in Grand Haven, Mich.and at South Haven Health System in South Haven, Mich., he has been able to utilize his extensive experience to advance Hillsdale Hospital's financial position.
Tracy Lipscomb. Former Senior Vice President of Finance and CFO of Garrett Regional Medical Center (Oakland, Md.). After many years spent serving the Garrett Regional Medical Center, a 55-bed acute care facility, Ms. Lipscomb has retired from her role as senior vice president of finance and CFO. Ms. Lipscomb joined the leadership team at the medical center in 2007 as vice president of Finance and CFO. She earned this promotion after serving as director of the hospital's accounting department for 8 years. Throughout her tenure at the hospital, the gross revenue has grown from $20 million to over $88 million. She is also a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants. In 2021, she was elected to the Maryland Hospital Association's Council on Financial Policy.
Deborah Mann. Vice President of Finance and CFO of Schneck Medical Center (Seymour, Ind.). Ms. Mann serves as vice president and CFO at Schneck Medical Center, a healthcare center that offers services including maternity, orthopedics, rehabilitation, neurology, women's health, surgery and more. She jump-started her career at Schneck as a staff accountant in 1994 and has worked her way through the ranks. She served as director of accounting and controller before her promotion to vice president of Fiscal Services at the hospital. She is also a certified public accountant.
Kaley Neal. CFO of Shenandoah Medical Center (Shenandoah, Iowa). Since 2017, Ms. Neal has directed the financial activities for Shenandoah Medical Center, a critical access hospital that includes three rural health clinics, a co-owned ambulance service with the city of Shenandoah, and a philanthropic foundation. Each year, the medical center generates almost $50 million in net operating revenue. Throughout her tenure, Ms. Neal has orchestrated the growth and expansion of the medical center, shaping it into one of Iowa's strongest operating facilities. She helped complete a $25 million facility expansion that added a medical office building, surgery center and emergency department, and also oversaw the financing of a $13 million cancer center. Her leadership has helped to overhaul the medical center's revenue cycle and has transformed it from pain point to strong suit. Ms. Neal is also a member of Clarinda City Council in Clarinda, Iowa, and serves as a board member of Iowa's Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Jay Noyes. CFO of Castleview Hospital (Price, Utah). After 15 years with Castleview Hospital, Mr. Noyes stepped into his role as CFO of the organization at the end of October 2022. Previously, he acted as financial controller and ethics and compliance officer. In these roles, he oversaw the 39-bed facility's daily financials and managed the financials for the 2015 emergency room and intensive care unit expansion, as well as the 2017 urgent care and retail pharmacy build. Castleview Hospital provides inpatient and outpatient services ranging from emergency care to surgery to labor and delivery, among others. Mr. Noyes aims to build on the hospital's strong existing foundation and ultimately improve the well-being of the community.
Cheryl Perry. CFO of McAlester (Okla.) Regional Health Center. Ms. Perry handles finance, patient financial services, patient access, materials management, budget, forecasting and bid processing for McAlester Regional Health Center. Though healthcare financial processes can be complicated and difficult to understand, she works hard to ensure that faculty members understand budgeting. She personally teaches quarterly financial training, which helps leaders gain the skills necessary to make sound business decisions. In addition to her current role, she is a member of the Oklahoma Society of CPAs. Before joining McAlester Regional Health Center, she was the CFO and vice president of Bapst Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Okla.
LuCinda Rider. CFO of UHS Delaware Valley Hospital (Walton, N.Y.). Ms. Rider is responsible for the financial operations for UHS Delaware Valley Hospital, a progressive critical access hospital in upstate New York. For 10 consecutive years, she has led the hospital to a positive bottom line. She has also implemented a strategic investment and cost containment plan that resulted in over 250 of cash on hand. Outside of her role as CFO, Ms. Rider acts as the UHS Delaware Valley Hospital compliance officer and as a board chair for UHS Employee Federal Credit Union. Prior to becoming CFO, she was controller for UHS Delaware Valley Hospital.
Derek Schaff. CFO of Linton Regional Medical Center (Linton, N.D.). Mr. Schaff manages Linton Regional Medical Center's revenue cycle and overall financial operations. His focus is on increasing operational efficiency. Thus far, his team has been able to decrease the amount of denials received, send out bills more quickly and accurately than ever before, strengthen internal controls and increase cash flow to the organization. Overall, the changes Mr. Schaff has implemented have added to the hospital's bottom line and ensured that the facility receives maximum compensation. In addition to his role at the medical center, Mr. Schaff serves as the program chair for the North Dakota Healthcare Financial Management Association and the secretary/treasurer for the North Dakota Hospital Association Health Benefits Trust. Prior to joining Linton Regional Medical Center, he worked in public accounting with a focus on auditing nonprofits, healthcare and government entities.