Financial sustainability ‘front and center’ at UNC Health Southeastern

Lumberton, N.C.,-based UNC Health Southeastern is coming off one of its strongest financial years in recent history, solidly positioning the system to help to weather any potential setbacks from the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

UNC Health Southeastern is a 452-bed hospital that comprises more than 135 physicians, according to its LinkedIn page. The facility is part of Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health. 

“There’s a lot of potential margin erosion and cost containment issues that come with the healthcare environment in general … we’re dealing with things from a revenue perspective, trying to conserve revenue and retain it, as well as trying to reduce cost and dealing with supply chain issues and all of that … financial sustainability is definitely something that stays front and center,” Sara Bradley, CFO of UNC Health Southeastern, said during a Becker’s CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast episode. 

Ms. Bradley said the hospital’s financial results, which are still being audited, were largely driven by North Carolina’s 2023 adoption of the Hospital Access and Stability Program, which increases Medicaid reimbursements to align more with care costs. 

“This year, we had over $50 million in HASP funding on our books,” she said. “That put us into the black significantly.”

Ms. Bradley also credited internal efforts to stabilize staffing, strengthen revenue cycle operations, cut contract labor and lower costs across the organization. 

While the hospital’s finances are in a strong spot, Ms. Bradley stressed the importance of preparing for any headwinds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Given that UNC Health Southeastern has a “disproportionately high” Medicaid population in the community it serves, she said the hospital is specifically focused on tightening up operations to offset any financial challenges brought on by the legislation. 

The hospital has recruited 77 providers since 2023, and is continuing to lean into improvements in patient and employee satisfaction. 

“We’re excited about the momentum we have going into the new fiscal year to be able to leverage some of the stuff we learned over the last 12 to 24 months to be able to face what is coming,” she said. “We are going to be able to focus a lot more on lowering readmissions and trying to get our length of stay under control.”

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