Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Sophia G. Holder, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Transcript

Sophia G. Holder, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  The most important health care decisions don't happen
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  in isolation.
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  They happen when leaders come together.
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  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings together more than
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  3,500
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  hospital and health system executives this April in
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  Chicago.
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  With 800 speakers from Ascension,
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  Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit and more, the conversations get
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  real. Leaders will share how their scenario planning
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  for policy shifts, breaking through value based care
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  barriers, and building clinical teams that translate
• 0:46
  This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  Sofia Holder, executive vice president and chief financial
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  officer of CHOP Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
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  Sofia, it's a pleasure to have you on
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  the podcast today.
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  Good morning. It's a pleasure. Thank you.
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  Now I'm excited for our conversation because I
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  know there's so much happening in health care,
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  and especially looking at some of the different
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  financial pressures hospitals have been going through in
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  the last couple of years and, you know,
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  looking at what could be ahead as well.
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  I think you are sitting in such a
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  unique position,
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  to be meeting some of these challenges with
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  very creative solutions, and so I'm excited to
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  get your perspective on some of the things
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  you've been doing at CHAP, as well as
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  how you're thinking about the future. But before
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  we dive in,
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  can you tell us a little bit more
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  about yourself and CHOP?
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  Yes. I'll be happy to.
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  I I could spend all day talking about
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  CHOP.
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  We are an amazing organization. I am coming
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  up on
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  five years at,
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  this institution.
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  And what many may not know
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  about CHOP is that we were founded
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  in 1855.
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  So we have a rich history,
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  and we were the first hospital
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  in the nation dedicated
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  exclusively
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  to the care of children. And so we
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  we feel strongly that we set the standard
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  for pediatric health care, delivery,
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  even today.
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  We are
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  now one of the largest
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  organizations
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  that are addressing comprehensively
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  pediatric care delivery.
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  We we provide care across the full spectrum,
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  as you might imagine, of care. So inpatient,
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  outpatient specialty services, we care for children
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  from all 50 states and around the world.
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  And
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  what what I feel really proud about with
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  respect to CHOP is that we
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  are really committed and grounded
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  in our mission.
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  We are committed to research and discoveries and
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  innovating
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  truly on care for children,
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  and really translate in
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  breakthrough science into better outcomes.
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  Right? And so what really differentiates
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  CHOP
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  is
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  that really wonderful
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  integration
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  of world class clinical care,
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  leading edge research,
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  and
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  an unwavering
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  focus on children and families. We believe
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  that that helps us to
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  shape the future of health care
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  pediatric delivery
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  while being grounded
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  in our founding mission.
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  I love that, especially
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  the real clear focus on the patients and
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  their families and being able to
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  provide the best care possible as well as
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  having that research discovery innovation,
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  that pushes that mission forward.
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  Now from your perspective, could you tell me
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  a little bit more about an initiative you
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  led in the last year or so? What
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  did you do, and what were the results?
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  Thank you. Yeah. I I would say,
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  I I tend not to think
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  about the the most important work as something
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  I led personally,
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  but but really as the work that we
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  enabled
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  within our organization
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  together.
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  And over the last year, the that work
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  was about restoring
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  financial
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  strength
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  in a way that positions us for the
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  future
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  of pediatric health care.
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  We focused
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  on
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  building discipline
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  into how we plan,
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  how we invest,
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  and make decisions so that CHOP can adapt.
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  We are in an increasingly
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  complex health care landscape.
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  How we innovate
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  and how we grow in a sustainable way.
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  And so this meant for us in having
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  more honest
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  conversations,
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  making clearer choices, really tune in our prioritization
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  framework,
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  and aligning our resources
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  with what matters most
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  for children and their families.
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  And so the result was not only
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  improved financial performance, which,
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  I was really grateful for as the CFO,
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  but stronger
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  organizational
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  alignment
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  and a clear connection between
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  the financial decisions
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  and patient impact, which is why we are
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  all here every day.
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  And and so we recognize that our work
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  is not done and that we are
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  on a journey.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And I
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  I think, you know, I really appreciate the
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  way you talk about thinking about the future
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  in investing, planning, and adapting no matter what
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  happens because I know there's been so many
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  changes within the health care space in the
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  last five years and then in the last
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  six months even. So Yes. Having that type
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  of, flexibility, I can imagine, is critical.
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  Now looking ahead, what are some of your
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  big priorities as well as headwinds you're focused
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  on for 2026?
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  I I and I would say here the
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  the priorities and headwinds are certainly closely connected.
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  We are focused
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  on
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  sustaining
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  financial performance
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  in an environment
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  of
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  continued labor pressures,
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  reimbursement dynamics,
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  and ongoing volatility in volumes. And at the
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  same time,
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  we are prioritizing
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  long
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  term capability building. And and so what do
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  I mean by that? Right? We are we
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  are looking at our workforce
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  optimization, where do we need to invest in
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  our people or or
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  most important asset.
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  We we're looking at revenue cycle resilience.
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  We're looking at capital discipline. Right? We are
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  continuing looking at how we prioritize
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  the the sort of rich needs around capital
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  at this time
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  and how we
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  increasingly,
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  and and in a responsible way, deploy automation
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  and AI
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  to reduce
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  administrative burden,
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  improve
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  data driven decision making,
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  and support overall health care delivery.
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  And so the challenge, not like not unlike
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  many of our peers likely, is balancing
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  near term performance
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  with these longer term
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  investments
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  so that
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  we do not do not compromise
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  access,
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  do not compromise
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  growth in our longer strategic objectives,
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  or we do not
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  compromise innovation
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  for children and families.
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  That's helpful to understand. I I think looking
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  at the workforce and workforce optimization,
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  I can imagine
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  so much goes into that,
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  between the, you know, human workforce and the
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  technology that comes into play and then figuring
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  out how you can continue to be innovative,
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  despite some of the financial challenges and risks
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  you mentioned as well. So I I I
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  know that's a huge puzzle and a lot
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  to figure out, but what do you think
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  the hardest thing you'll have to do in
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  the coming year will be?
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  How long do you have?
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  I think, really, our our hardest work ahead
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  is,
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  continuing to make
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  disciplined,
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  and really
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  sometimes uncomfortable decisions
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  while staying grounded and anchored in our mission.
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  And that includes
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  likely saying no to investments
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  that
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  do not clearly advance
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  access,
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  quality,
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  and sustainability,
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  and pushing ourselves to
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  rethink
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  legacy structures and our ways of working.
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  And in pediatrics especially,
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  every decision carries
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  emotional weight.
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  And so the challenge
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  is leading with
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  transparency
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  and courage
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  while keeping the organization aligned around
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  what it truly takes to remain strong
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  for the long term.
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  I hear that, you know, looking at some
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  of those decisions and being disciplined is not
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  always easy, but having that courage to lead
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  and know what you're doing in the right
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  direction,
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  really will lead to that sustainability that you
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  were talking about earlier in our conversation too.
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  And, you know, I wanted to ask not
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  only about the hard things, but also about,
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  you know, how you're thinking about growth in
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  the future too. What are some of the
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  big opportunities that you're looking at, and how
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  do you see CHOP continuing to grow and
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  flourish as we go on?
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  And I would tell you, CHOP is amazing.
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  Like, we have
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  a a a strong growth mindset,
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  and our best
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  growth opportunities really sit at the intersection
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  of mission and discipline.
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  And that includes, for us, at spending access
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  through
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  ambulatory
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  and virtual models,
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  strengthening partnerships
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  regionally,
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  nationally, and internationally, quite frankly,
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  and skill and services where
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  pediatric expertise
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  truly differentiates
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  outcomes
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  for patients.
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  And, internally, growth also means for us
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  raising and growing our capabilities.
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  So we are focused on developing leaders.
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  We are focused on modernizing
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  our operating models.
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  And
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  as the CFO, we are also focused on
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  embedding
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  this notion of financial stewardship
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  into everyday
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  decision making.
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  Right? It's not sort of a one off.
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  It's ingrained
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  into our culture.
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  And so when we do that well,
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  growth becomes
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  sustainable,
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  not just bigger. Right? Not just bigger, but
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  stronger.
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  And so this is an exciting time
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  for us at CHOP, ripe with opportunities despite,
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  sort of the the changes
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  that are surrounding
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  the entire health care landscape.
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  Absolutely. I love that, Sofia. Thank you so
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  much for joining us on the podcast today.
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  This has been such a fun and inspiring
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  and
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  I look forward to, continuing it at our
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  annual meeting. I know you'll be speaking with
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  us in April, and, it'll be fantastic to
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  hear a little bit more, go a bit
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  deeper into some of the things you're doing
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  at CHAP, and then,
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  be able to connect with other finance and
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  strategic leaders across the spectrum,
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  to really, you know, figure out how we
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  can tackle some of these big challenges that
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  we've been discussing today in a strategic and
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  meaningful way. So looking forward to that and
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  seeing you then.
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  Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to
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  join you on the podcast, and I'm really
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  looking forward to the April meeting where I
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  can not just network, but learn and grow
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  with my colleagues, across, the country.