Women CFOs are having a positive effect on companies across industries and driving financial success within their organizations.
A 2019 S&P Global report found that firms with women CFOs are more profitable than firms with male CFOs and generated around $1.8 trillion over the study horizon. The study examined the first 24 months after women CFOs took the helm, and reported they saw a 6 percent increase in profitability and 8 percent larger stock returns on average during that time.
Note: Women do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion on this list. The women are listed in alphabetical order. Direct questions or comments on this list to Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.
Here are 20-plus women who oversee the financial operations of their hospitals or health systems as CFO.
Jill Batty. CFO of Cambridge (Mass.) Health Alliance. Ms. Batty joined Cambridge Health Alliance as CFO in 2014 after spending time as senior vice president of finance and CFO of Cheshire Medical Center / Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Keene, N.H. Her 20-plus years of experience in leadership molded her background in transitioning organizations from fee-for-service to population health management and navigating reimbursement shifts while generating significant operating margin improvements. Ms. Batty is a fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and has experience as a strategist, healthcare consultant and financial executive.
Laurie Beyer. Executive Vice President and CFO of GBMC HealthCare (Towson, Md.). Ms. Beyer joined CBMC HealthCare in 2017 after spending 25 years in executive roles. She most recently spent 11 years as senior vice president and CFO of Union Hospital of Cecil County where she developed finance and revenue cycle teams as well as converted the organization's patient revenue system. Ms. Beyer also has experience leading an EMR implementation and spent time as corporate controller of St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore.
Cara Breidster. CFO of the Suburban Region of IU Health (Lafayette, Ind.). Ms. Breidster joined IU Health in 2005 and spent time as CFO for the West Central Region before becoming the Indianapolis Suburban Region CFO. She also has experience as vice president of finance and corporate controller for the health system. Prior to joining IU Health, Ms. Breidster spent 17 years specializing in healthcare and tax consulting with Ernst and Young.
Colleen M. Blye. Executive Vice President and CFO of Montefiore Health System (Bronx, N.Y.). Ms. Blye oversees the financial strategy, reporting, investments and revenue cycle for Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine as CFO. She has prior experience as executive vice president and CFO of Catholic Health Services of Long Island, a six-hospital health system, and executive vice president for finance and integrated services at Catholic Health Initiatives. Her career has afforded her a background in third party contracting, payroll and information technology in addition to financial planning and strategy.
Carol Crews. Senior Vice President and CFO of Tanner Health System (Carrollton, Ga.). Ms. Crews is the senior vice president and CFO of Tanner Health System, an organization she joined in 1991 as a staff accountant. Over the years, Ms. Crews has spent time as controller and vice president of finance before she became responsible for all business related activity for the system. Ms. Crews has experience in budgets, audits, accounting, payroll and patient financial services.
Lori Donaldson. CFO of UC San Diego Health. Ms. Donaldson is the CFO of UC San Diego Health, overseeing the health system's financial strategies, operating and capital budgets and financial reporting systems and controls. Ms. Donaldson is also responsible for planning and executing strategic partnerships and financial planning for the system's capital projects. In her role, Ms. Donaldson oversees a budget of more than $1 billion and under her leadership the system has reported margins over the industry averages.
Liz Foshage. Executive Vice President and CFO of Ascension (St. Louis). Ms. Foshage leads all aspects Ascension's financials. She has experience with financial planning, reporting, oversight of tax and treasury functions and shared services. She joined Ascension in 1992 and has held roles of increasing responsibility, including senior vice president of finance. Ms. Foshage also oversees the Ascension Ministry Service Center.
Dana Haering. CFO of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.). Ms. Haering was named interim CFO of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford in 2013 and promoted to CFO in 2014. She spent more than 20 years in the accounting industry, serving healthcare organizations that include academic medical centers, community hospitals and health plans. She also spent time as a senior manager at KPMG in the healthcare practice.
Suzanne Haggard. Chief Revenue Officer of LCMC Health (New Orleans). Ms. Haggard oversees LCMC Health's financial and revenue cycle processes. In 2014, she was integral to the opening of New Orleans East Hospital and University Medical Center New Orleans a year later. She has experience improving the hospital's profitability, cost structure and revenue cycles and spent time in healthcare management and consulting before she joined LCMC.
Linda Hoff. CFO of Stanford (Calif.) Health Care. Ms. Hoff is CFO of Stanford Health Care, which she joined in 2017 after spending time as senior vice president and CFO of Legacy Health, an Oregon-based health system. She brought with her more than 30 years of executive and finance experience. In her role, she oversees Stanford Health Care's finance strategy, planning and reporting.
Kathy Lancaster. Executive Vice President and CFO of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan (Oakland, Calif.). After joining Kaiser Permanente in 1998, Ms. Lancaster was promoted to CFO in 2005. She is responsible for the health system's corporate finance, financial planning, financial systems and revenue management. She also has oversight of supply chain, data analytics, actuarial services and the enterprise shared services. Before she joined Kaiser, Ms. Lancaster held senior leadership roles for Prudential Insurance Company's Western region.
Stacey Malakoff. Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City). Ms. Malakoff was appointed executive vice president and treasurer of Hospital for Special Surgery in August 1998 after spending eight years with the hospital. In her current role, Ms. Malakoff is responsible for the financial operations of the 215-bed hospital that has 333 active medical staff members and 102 scientists. Hospital for Special Surgery has an operating expense budget of $989 million and research operations budget of $41 million.
Divya Matai. CFO of Northwest Texas Healthcare System (Amarillo, Texas). Ms. Matai joined Northwest Texas Healthcare System in June 2018 as CFO after spending time as CFO of St. Joseph Medical Center in Houston. She has experience overseeing the health system's business office, accounting, IT and materials management in addition to improving the revenue cycle and financial operations.
Sheri Montgomery. CFO of Palm Beach Market and Delray Medical Center (Delray Beach, Fla.). Ms. Montgomery was appointed Delray Medical Center CFO after spending 17 years in healthcare finance. Her experience includes time as CFO of Coral Gables (Fla.) Hospital. In her role, Ms. Montgomery is responsible for the 536-bed acute care hospital as well as the system's 1,600 employees and 600 physicians.
Kaley Neal. CFO of Shenandoah (Iowa) Medical Center. Ms. Neal became financial controller of Shenandoah Medical Center in March 2016 and was promoted to CFO in July 2017. In her current role, Ms. Neal oversees financial operations for the 25-bed critical access hospital that has around 300 employees. The hospital's main campus also includes a physician clinic, outpatient clinic, wellness center and home health and hospice.
Susan Nelson. Executive Vice President and CFO of MedStar Health (Columbia, Md.). Ms. Nelson is responsible for MedStar Health's finances, financial planning and reporting. She also oversees revenue cycle, capital management and investment activities for the nonprofit health system. Ms. Nelson joined MedStar in 2005 as vice president of operations after spending time as senior manager of assurance and advisory business services for Ernst & Young.
Alice Pope. CFO of Inova (Falls Church, Va.). Ms. Pope oversees the financial operations and revenue cycle at Inova. She previously served as senior vice president and CFO of HonorHealth and CFO of Kingsport, Tenn.-based Wellmont Health System. She has a background in directing health system investment and treasury management, financial planning, internal audit, supply chain and payer contracting. She has more than 30 years of experience in finance and 20 of those years were in healthcare.
Connie Prewitt. CFO of Billings (Mont.) Clinic. Ms. Prewitt has worked at Billings Clinic for more than 20 years and is responsible for financial management of the health system. She also provides a strategic vision and personnel management for the physician group and hospital organization. The health system includes a 304-bed hospital and manages 11 critical access hospitals as well as several clinics and a surgery center.
Cheryl Sadro. CFO of the University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston). Ms. Sadro is the CFO of UTMB, a $2.4 billion academic medical center. She oversees all financial strategy for the system's six hospitals at four different campuses. Ms. Sadro also serves on the President's Executive Steering Council and is responsible for seven major areas of operational support for UTMB Health. She joined the system in October 2014 after spending time as senior vice president for finance and market CFO of Catholic Health Initiatives.
Bernadette Spong. CFO of Orlando (Fla.) Health. Ms. Spong has responsibility over Orlando Health's financial operations, supply chain, information services, revenue management and asset strategy as CFO. She joined the organization in 2015 and since then Orlando Health's bond rating from Moody's has improved. She also brought financial transparency to the health system and taught healthcare finance classes to nurse leaders and clinicians.
Karen Testman, RN. CFO of MemorialCare (Fountain Valley, Calif.). Ms. Testman joined MemorialCare in 1998 and then became senior vice president of financial operations before her promotion to CFO in 2013. Ms. Testman was integral to the health system's ambulatory growth and joint venture strategy. The health system also received positive ratings under her leadership. Ms. Testman has more than 20 years of leadership experience and worked with the system to invest in strategic physician acquisition, an EMR build and adding to its ambulatory network.
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