Madeline Ashley

Shamiq Syed has been named CFO of Secaucus, N.J.-based Hudson Regional Hospital, according to a July 17 LinkedIn post.

The hospital is part of Secaucus-based Hudson Regional Health, a four-hospital system that was formed in late May as the last step in Bayonne, N.J.-based CarePoint Health System’s bankruptcy exit. 

Prior to his new role, Mr. Syed served as CFO of CarePoint Health System, according to his LinkedIn page.
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Dallas-based Steward Health Care filed a lawsuit July 15 in bankruptcy court against its former chairman and CEO, Ralph de la Torre, MD, and other top system executives, claiming they conducted insider transactions that drained Steward’s assets and contributed to financial collapse. 

Steward sought Chapter 11 protection May 6, 2024, and has since worked to sell or close its 31-hospitals — many of which have drawn criticism for poor working conditions, substandard patient care, aging and unsafe facilities, and have faced lawsuits filed by unpaid vendors. 

Dr. de la Torre, who also drew criticism for his lavish lifestyle amid the system’s downfall, “amicably separated” from Steward on Oct. 1 and sued the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Sept. 30 after it held him in contempt for skipping a committee hearing for which he was subpoenaed. 

Steward’s 68-page lawsuit, obtained by Becker’s, outlined claims of self-dealing, breach of fiduciary duty and fraudulent transfers in its allegations. It named former Steward leaders, including Dr. de la Torre, former Steward Executive Vice President for Physician Services Michael Callum, First Bristol Corp. Co-CEO James Karam and former Steward President Sanjay Shetty, MD.

The lawsuit pointed to an $111 million dividend in January 2021, while Steward was allegedly insolvent, that was allegedly received by Steward board members including Dr. de la Torre, Mr. Callum and Mr. Karam. Dr. de la Torre received $81.5 million of the dividend and used $30 million of it to purchase a “superyacht,” the lawsuit said.

“In orchestrating the $111M Dividend, [Dr.] de la Torre was grossly negligent and breached the duties of care, loyalty and good faith that he owed to [Steward],” the lawsuit said. “[Mr.] Callum and [Mr.] Karam were likewise grossly negligent and breached their duties of care, loyalty and good faith.”

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare was also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit regarding Steward’s purchase of five Tenet hospitals in Florida for around $1.1 billion in August 2022. The lawsuit claimed Tenet’s facilities were initially valued at $895 million by Steward, but a higher price was paid due to Dr. de la Torre’s “personal desire to build a hospital empire in the Miami area, rather than on any independent financial analysis,” the lawsuit said.

“Not only did [Steward] overpay, but [Dr.] de la Torre pushed the deal through before Steward could complete the closely-related sale of five Steward hospitals in Utah, which [Steward] expected to rely upon to provide it with the liquidity needed for the Tenet Transaction to succeed,” the lawsuit said. 

Steward claimed Tenet received a fraudulent transfer in connection with the deal, which included almost $209 million in cash that Steward contributed. It argued that Steward did not receive reasonably equivalent value for the payment and was left with an “unreasonably small capital in relation to its business both before and after making such payment.”

Steward also claimed that the proceeds of its 2022 value-based care assets sale to CareMax were diverted, with only $60.5 million of the $194 million sale going to the system. It alleged that the remainder went to entities run by Dr. de la Torre and other insiders. 

The lawsuit is seeking to gain hundreds of millions of dollars, hold defendants liable for damages that stem through fraud and breaches of duty and to disallow certain creditor claims. 

“Dr. de la Torre disputes the allegations of wrongdoing and will vigorously defend himself against them,” a spokesperson for Dr. de la Torre said in a July 16 statement shared with Becker’s.

The lawsuit comes after Steward received bankruptcy court approval July 16 to move forward with a liquidation plan to repay creditors with the lawsuit proceeds from previous system owners and insiders, Reuters reported.

Steward plans to seek more than $3 billion in legal claims against former creditors, insurers and insiders that received payment as the system headed toward bankruptcy. Steward has said recovering 13% of the claims would be enough to cover its bankruptcy costs, Reuters reported.

Becker’s has reached out to Steward Health Care and Tenet Healthcare for comment and will update this story should more information become available. 
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Pullman (Wash.) Regional Hospital CFO Steve Febus has shared plans to retire in January 2026 after 38 years with the hospital.

During his tenure at Pullman Regional, Mr. Febus served as controller, director of revenue cycle and fiscal, and then CFO, according to a July 16 news release shared with Becker’s. 

Mr. Febus witnessed Pullman’s transformation from a facility with a small emergency department and no doctors to a regional hospital supporting more than 50 physicians and 16 clinics. He helped lead the hospital through the development of capital projects and service expansions, while aiding its transition to a new facility, the release said.

Pullman Regional is conducting a national search for a new CFO and seeks to fill the role in late 2025.
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Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare and Marlton, N.J.-based Virtua Health have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to form a regional nonprofit health system.

The system would comprise care in more than 10 counties across Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, nearly 30,000 employees, more than 600 care sites and academic programs with more than 500 fellows and residents, according to a July 16 news release. 

It would also focus on enhanced care access for behavioral health, primary and urgent care, along with a proposed maternal risk program that would support more than 15,000 births annually. 

“Our vision for this new health system  — when Medicare and Medicaid are facing cuts and many hospitals are struggling to stay open — gives me hope and excitement for our future and for the health of our neighbors,” George Foutrakis, chair of the ChristianaCare health system board, said. 

ChristianaCare and Virtua Health will work to negotiate and sign definitive agreements while also seeking regulatory approval. Both systems will run as separate, independent parties during negotiations, the release added.

Virtua Health, a nonprofit academic system, comprises five hospitals, two freestanding emergency departments, 42 ASCs, 38 primary care locations, 30 physical therapy and rehabilitation practices and more than 400 additional sites. It employs 15,000 workers, including 3,000 affiliated clinicians and doctors.

ChristianaCare, a nonprofit teaching health system, comprises three hospitals, home health care, urgent care centers, a freestanding emergency department, a level 1 trauma center, a level 3 neonatal ICU and a comprehensive stroke center.
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Now half way through the year, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health is still reaping the rewards of a financially sound fiscal 2024, after seeing a major leap in operating income last year, up to $294.2 million from $80.5 million in 2023.

Robin Damschroder, executive vice president, president of value-based enterprise and CFO of Henry Ford Health, said during a Becker’s CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast episode that success can be attributed to early gains from the system’s joint venture with Ascension Michigan, strong performance from its Health Alliance Plan insurance arm and strategic cost containment. 

“First and foremost, we had some early wins in our joint venture with the Ascension Michigan facilities,” Ms. Damschroder said. “Those benefits came early. They were things from changing our group purchasing organization, so we got some rate wins on our contracts. For example, almost $35 million.”

Henry Ford Health launched its joint venture with Ascension Michigan on Oct. 1, 2024, bringing around 50,000 employees across more than 550 sites in Michigan under Henry Ford Health’s wing. 

As the joint venture integration continues, Ms. Damschroder said a key focus is merging five electronic medical record platforms into Henry Ford Health’s platform. 

“Collectively, we are working on about $250 million in what we call ‘tier-one synergies,” she said. “We have worked through integrating and getting to our shared governance set up. A lot of our focus originally … has been around cultural alignment. How can we gain quick operational efficiencies together and really getting some of those quick wins while we work at this larger technology transformation.”

Following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Ms. Damschroder said the system did a significant amount of scenario planning, and reviewed each initiative carefully. 

The legislation is expected to decrease Medicaid spending by nearly $1 trillion, with the number of uninsured individuals expected to increase by 11.8 million by 2034, according to the  Congressional Budget Office.

“When we look at it, the implications are a bit above the median of what we could have expected, but certainly not the worst-case scenario that was out there,” she said. “[Some] of these regulations, particularly when it comes to eligibility, work requirements and redetermination, the states are going to decide on sort of the final implementation rules. Michigan might experience something different than in Indiana or California or Texas. So we anticipate we might see some of those in 2026 and 2027 but the major, major cuts are expected to happen 2028 to 2032.”

Ms. Damschroder offered three pieces of leadership advice as healthcare leaders work to understand the legislation’s impact on their organizations.

“It’s about transparency and collaboration,” she said. You’ve got to prioritize open communication and cross functional teamwork at this time, followed by strategic investment. Even as we’re looking at cuts, we’re going to have to make key investments in order to get at the savings that we’re going to need to reduce our cost structures. Finally, we’ve got to adapt, right? We’ve got to adapt our structures. Sometimes it’s times like this, when you look at a crisis and see all the challenges, it really brings you opportunities that you haven’t been able to push past. I think we have the opportunity from a leadership perspective to step up.”
The post Henry Ford Health, Ascension Michigan’s JV going strong nearly 1 year in appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.

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Murray-Calloway County Hospital in Murray, Ky., has named Brian Craven CFO. 

In his new role, Mr. Craven, who has more than 25 years of financial healthcare experience, will lead financial operations for the hospital, including budgeting, financial reporting and revenue cycle management, according to a July 7 hospital news release shared with Becker’s. 

Prior to his new role, Mr. Craven served as CEO of Ironwood Healthcare Solutions, a CFO provider for rural hospitals, according to his LinkedIn page.
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As financial pressures mount and adjacent markets become saturated and/or highly regulated, a growing number of health systems are rethinking the geographic boundaries of traditional mergers and acquisitions — sparking renewed debate over the strategic value of noncontiguous transactions.

While some leaders argue that expansion beyond a system’s immediate footprint dilutes cultural cohesion and operational synergies, others see opportunity: greater scale, diversified risk, and expanded access to capital and talent. 

For systems like Kaiser Permanente and Prime Healthcare, strategic moves into new regions and non-adjacent markets reflect a deliberate shift toward value-based care and scalable operating models. But many executives remain cautious, insisting that deeper integration and community connection remain best achieved within contiguous regions.

So what would it take to compel a health system to pursue a merger or acquisition with a geographically distant partner? Will noncontiguous M&As become more common — or remain the exception? Seven health system leaders shared their perspectives with Becker’s.

Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length. 

Question: What are the primary factors that would compel your health system to pursue a merger or acquisition with a geographically distant partner? 

Brett Tande. Corporate Executive Vice President and CFO, Scripps Health (San Diego): Quality and resources. For a merger or acquisition to be worthwhile over the long term, it must offer a clear pathway to elevate the quality of care across both organizations while expanding the combined entity’s access to resources (e.g., cash). Health systems have a duty to their communities to continually enhance clinical outcomes and achieving that often requires ready access to financial resources.

If a partnership allows Scripps to improve care delivery at both our facilities and the partner’s without diluting the resources Scripps has, that could represent a compelling opportunity. That said, pursuing M&A purely for top-line growth feels tone-deaf in today’s environment. Given that federal and state legislation will reduce profitability over the next decade, many health systems will be contemplating some very tough strategic and operational decisions. A transaction lacking clear benefits in quality or resource access risks weakening both organizations. For organizations that will struggle under the deteriorating reimbursement environment we are entering, my advice would be for them to consider strategic alternatives before resources dwindle… give your organization the benefit of striking a deal from a position of strength.

Jeff Costello. CFO, Beacon Health System (South Bend, Ind.): Our strategic focus as a regional health system remains on strengthening our presence within our core geographic markets. We would not be compelled to pursue geographically distant partnerships, as our growth strategy centers on deepening our footprint in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan, where we can leverage operational synergies, maintain care continuity for patients and build upon our established community relationships. Our recent acquisition of Ascension Southwest Michigan exemplifies this approach and enhances our ability to serve patients across the region.

John Orsini. Executive Vice President, CFO of Northwestern Medicine (Chicago): I find geographically distant mergers challenging as synergies from IT and managed care contracting are difficult to obtain. The potential partner would need to be a significant provider in its market and also have either scalable capabilities that would add value to us or capabilities we could bring to bear that would help them advance their strategic goals. 

Joseph Cacchione, MD. CEO, Jefferson Health (Philadelphia): We actually believe that having a strong regional presence is a benefit to our patients, students and health plan members. We pursued our combination with Lehigh Valley Health Network last year because joining together strengthens access and care for patients. By creating an integrated regional system, we offer broader networks of specialists, expanded services and advanced treatments closer to home.

Strategically, acquiring or merging with partners in contiguous or adjacent markets also allows us to better serve the communities between our current service areas where access to care may be limited. By expanding our footprint in this way, we can create a more seamless regional system of care, improving access for broader communities and reaching populations we could not as effectively serve independently.

It also enhances our research, education and health plan offerings — helping us attract top talent, improve affordability and better serve vulnerable populations. Ultimately, our combination with LVHN allows us to enhance delivery on our mission to provide accessible, high-quality, patient-centered care to all the communities we serve.

Nick Barcellona. CFO, WVU Medicine (Morgantown, W.Va.): We’ve nearly tripled in size in the last four years from a revenue perspective, north of $7 billion now and 25 hospitals. We’ve experienced quite a bit of M&A, which has been contiguous from a geographic market perspective. I think because of all the external pressures out there, you’re going to see an acceleration in M&A. I think that’s the reality of what’s happening. You’re probably hearing and reading a lot about this related to the Big, Beautiful Bill and the potential implications to Medicaid funding and the number of hospitals that will close or systems that will come under significant financial stress. 

I think that’s accurate, but specifically related to non-contiguous M&A … I think when you get into those times of great stress, more organizations are sort of raising their hands and asking for help or seeking out partners. That’s certainly been true for folks talking to us as well. You have to have your strategy defined, and your methods and metrics that you evaluate when answering or responding to those types of questions, you have to be aligned on that. 

Sam Glick. Executive Vice President of Enterprise Strategy and Business Development, Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.): Kaiser Permanente has operated successfully for 80 years with a noncontiguous footprint, so we understand well the opportunities and challenges that serving geographically distant communities presents. We believe that value-based care — as Kaiser Permanente defines it — is the future of healthcare. Kaiser Permanente currently touches more than 13.1 million lives across 10 states and [the District of Columbia]. We know there is a great desire from our members and customers to have our unique value-based care in more places across the country. We are working to meet that need, and that includes a focus on communities where the country is growing and people are moving, regardless of whether a community is contiguous with our current states. And our mission compels us to share our expertise in delivering this care with even more people.

Steve Aleman. CFO, Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.): The main factors that would compel our health system to pursue an M&A with a geographically distant partner:  

1) A facility with strong volume that would benefit from implementation of Prime’s proven operating model.

2) The ability to expand market presence or a system in a new market that already has an established market concentration.

3) A transaction that can be executed at appropriate market value.

Prime has stated for some time now that future acquisitions would either be a tuck-in/add-on into an existing market or a cluster acquisition into a new market. This is important because it is a very challenging environment currently for hospital providers and you need to have the strength and flexibility of scale to adapt. Prime is unique from other providers in that our strength has always been the ability in our operating discipline to be able to pivot accordingly to the everchanging macro environment. It is the clear understanding of our operating metrics, performance drivers, service lines, market headwinds and tailwinds and fiscal conservatism that allows us the opportunity to manage and pivot as needed depending on changes that come our way.

Q: Do you expect more health systems to pursue noncontiguous transactions in the future? Why / why not? 

Brett Tande. Corporate Executive Vice President and CFO, Scripps Health (San Diego): Yes. For the past two decades, health systems have largely pursued M&A within adjacent geographies, but many of those opportunities have now been exhausted. At the same time, both the FTC and various state regulators have stepped up scrutiny of mergers within the same or nearby markets, making those deals harder to complete. Despite these hurdles, the economic reality for many health systems is a need for significant cost reduction, and overhead costs play meaningfully into this problem. If two noncontiguous health systems are truly committed to operational integration (sharing a single EHR, using a single ERP platform, standardization across supply chain and corporate infrastructure, etc.), and demanding exceptional performance out of areas such as revenue cycle, then the rationale for partnership remains strong.

Jeff Costello. CFO, Beacon Health System (South Bend, Ind.): While some health systems may explore noncontiguous transactions, we believe the trend will likely still favor regional consolidation. Health systems are increasingly recognizing that geographic proximity enables better operational integration, more efficient resource sharing and stronger community connections.

Joseph Cacchione, MD. CEO, Jefferson Health (Philadelphia): I think health systems will increasingly look at the local and regional approach as the more effective strategy. True economies of scale aren’t just about size on paper — they’re about operational alignment, shared infrastructure, a unified culture, and clinical integration that improves access to care and reduces costs. By focusing on a closely connected geographic region, you can develop better care coordination, stronger local partnerships, improved recruitment and retention, and supply chain efficiencies.

John Orsini. Executive Vice President, CFO of Northwestern Medicine (Chicago): I think the multi-state health systems will continue to grow. They will continue to round out in their geographies and likely expand from there.

Nick Barcellona. CFO, WVU Medicine (Morgantown, W.Va.): We are of the opinion, and I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I think Albert [Wright, WVU Medicine CEO] would agree that we don’t see the value in these noncontiguous M&A deals that you’re seeing, certainly for nonprofit healthcare and mission oriented organizations like ours. Yes, there’s scale. Yes, there are other potential benefits you bring to the table. 

For us, we have a lot of pride and passion in our brand. We have a lot of appreciation and depth of support from our region, from a geographic perspective, and certainly in an environment of uncertainty related to Medicaid. Medicaid, whether we like it or not, is a very local business. You have to work very closely with your state or surrounding states that you are in and establish those relationships and work together, because these are very challenging problems to solve, and they’re not going to be solved overnight. For us, the pros do not outweigh the cons; we see a lot of value in contiguous geographic growth and expansion.

Sam Glick. Executive Vice President of Enterprise Strategy and Business Development, Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.): When we decided to form Risant Health to expand and accelerate the adoption of value-based care in diverse, multi-payer, multi-provider environments, geography was not a limitation. Through such initiatives, we can unite like-minded nonprofit, community-based health systems to expand value-based care, improve outcomes, make health care more accessible and affordable, and enhance the care experience. 

Risant Health and its current and future health systems — including Geisinger and Cone Health — together with Kaiser Permanente, will continue to build the value-based platform, working with clinicians, to provide solutions that enable health systems to improve care and experience for patients, members, and clinicians. There are clear criteria for health systems that become a part of Risant Health, including recognized quality outcomes, sustainable standalone financials, a leading reputation in their geography, and a demonstrated commitment to value-based care. The interest continues to be robust. It is our intention to grow to five or six systems in our first five years.

Steve Aleman. CFO, Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.): I anticipate in an environment of reimbursement cuts and rising cost pressures, systems will look for diversification to mitigate those risks. That diversification drive will lead health systems to pursue acquisitions that diversify their business segment portfolio and or expand to new markets that can help diversify the risk related to state specific concentration risks.
The post Why some systems say ‘yes’ to distant M&As — and others say ‘never’ appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.

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HHS resumed workforce reductions on July 14 after the U.S. Supreme Court greenlit President Donald Trump’s executive order to reorganize and reduce staff across the federal government, Bloomberg reported July 14.

A July 14 email sent to employees from the HHS Office of Human Resources, obtained by Bloomberg, said that the agency was permitted to move forward with “a portion” of its reduction in force. “Accordingly, you are hereby notified that you are officially separated from HHS at the close of business on July 14, 2025,” the email said.

It is not clear how many staff, or which departments they worked for, received the emails, Bloomberg reported.

HHS, a federal agency, was not explicitly listed in the 17-page July 8 ruling, which  suspended a May 22 preliminary injunction that blocked President Trump’s executive order  directing the federal agency reorganization and workforce reductions.

In late March, HHS shared plans to lay off 10,000 full-time employees as part of a “dramatic restructuring.” In early April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. acknowledged  possible error in the firings, and suggested that around 20% of affected staff could have their roles reinstated.

On July 1, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose for the District of Rhode Island granted a preliminary injunction preventing the Trump administration from reducing staff in the CDC, Center for Tobacco Products, the office of Head Start and Head Start employees in regional offices, and the office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation. 

A spokesperson for HHS told Bloomberg that all HHS employees laid off earlier this year have been separated from the agency officially, except staff affected by Ms. Dubose’s order.Becker’s has reached out to HHS for comment and will update this story should more information become available.
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Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, has named 

Karey Powers chief human resource officer of Pennsylvania Hospital, also of Philadelphia, and Ed Callahan CHRO of Doylestown (Pa.) Hospital.

Prior to their new roles, Ms. Powers served as an associate CHRO for the system, according to her LinkedIn page, and Mr. Callahan served as CHRO of Chester (Pa.) County Hospital, a spokesperson said in a July 15 statement shared with Becker’s. 

Doylestown Health joined the University of Pennsylvania Health System in early April; the 245-bed facility is the system’s seventh hospital. 
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CMS’ proposed rule for the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule comprises key updates to the Medicare Shared Savings Program, according to a July 14 news release from the agency. 

The proposals aim to increase accountable care organization participation flexibility, improve program operations and encourage faster two-sided risk transitions. Proposed rule public comments are due Sept. 12. 

Here are eight things to know: 

1. The proposed rule updates include reducing the duration that ACOs can take part in a one-sided risk model under the BASIC track from seven to five years, starting with agreement periods on or after Jan. 1, 2027, to promote a faster two-sided risk transition.

2. ACOs could enter new agreements on or after Jan. 1, 2027, to meet the 5,000 beneficiary minimum in the third benchmark year only, not all three. ACOs that fall below the threshold in any year may see shared savings and losses caps and face limits to participation in BASIC track.

3. CMS proposes removing health equity adjustment to ACOs’ quality scores in 2025, highlighting overlap with incentives such as the electronic Clinical Quality Measure/MIPS CQM and the Complex Organization Adjustment.

“Our proposal to remove the health equity adjustment would deduplicate scoring factors and further simplify our quality scoring methodology,” the release said.

4. The Medicare Clinical Quality Measure-eligible beneficiaries definition would be updated in 2025 to align better with ACO-assignable populations in an attempt to ease burdens in patient matching needed to report Medicare CQMs. 

5. CMS proposed multiple updates to the APP Plus quality measure set for Shared Savings Program ACOs. This includes the removal of the “Screening for Social Drivers of Health” from the APP Plus quality measure set. It also suggests updating CAHPS survey modes to feature a web-mail-phone protocol beginning in 2027.

6. ACOs affected by attacks such as ransomware would have extreme and uncontrollable circumstances relief extended to them beginning in performance year 2025. The extension would be pending MIPS EUC application approval. 

7. During the performance year, ACOs would be required to report skilled nursing facility or participant affiliate changes should there be a change of ownership, with a goal to improve program participation continuity. 

8. CMS also aims to revise the definition of primary care services for beneficiary assignment, rename “health equity benchmark adjustment” to “population adjustment,” and monitor quality and alternative quality performance compliance standards beginning in 2026. 
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