New CFO for Pardee UNC Health Care Discusses Financial Strategy

Michael Sunday Jr. recently connected with HealthLeaders to discuss his new role, his goals for Pardee, and how hospitals can move their organizations into the future.

Pardee UNC Health Care—a North Carolina–based nonprofit community hospital with $190 million in net patient revenue—has recently promoted Michael Sunday Jr. to the position of vice president and CFO.

Sunday was promoted to the position after serving as Pardee's controller since June 2019 and will lead the organization's financial operations and supporting functions such as revenue cycle, accounting, internal audit, system budgeting, capital planning, and decision support. Before joining Pardee, Sunday was the director of accounting and finance for Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

"Mike is well respected among his peers and has proven to be a steady and committed leader within our organization," Jay Kirby, president and CEO of Pardee UNC Health Care said in a release announcing Sunday's appointment. "He is a welcome addition to our leadership team."

Leading the financial strategy for a hospital or health system has been more difficult since the onset of the pandemic. The great resignation, flooded COVID-19 wards, and a perpetual lack of funding for some organizations all contributed to the struggle. These issues have presented unique challenges that require CFOs to think creatively about how they can move their organizations forward.

A recent blog offers suggestions on how CFOs can ensure they have quick access to necessary financial resources. Some options include "talking with banks and other potential sources to build liquidity resources in the face of rapidly deteriorating cash flows." And "working to closely monitor and track incremental COVID-related expenses, as well as COVID-related losses. This will help in securing government assistance, in quantifying the pandemic's impacts to boards, executive teams, and other stakeholders, and in identifying the financial gap for the organization." 

As Sunday steps into his new role as CFO for Pardee UNC Health Care, he'll have these and other concerns on his plate as he works to improve the organization's financial resources. He recently connected with HealthLeaders to discuss his new role, his goals for Pardee, and how hospitals and health systems can move their organizations into the future.

HealthLeaders: What drew you to the CFO role at Pardee?

Michael Sunday: I was drawn to the role of CFO at Pardee in large part because of the leadership team and the growing organization. This is a supportive team who takes an active role in the organization and brings out the best in its team members. It's a rewarding experience to watch as Pardee works to bring care closer to home from expanding our service lines, including the cardiac care team, and becoming STEMI-certified to doubling our primary care service line.

HL: How will you help shape the organization's financial strategy going forward?

Sunday: Our team is developing a five-year plan based on the organization's strategies to ensure the stability of the financial well-being of the hospital. We are in the midst of creating a meaningful dashboard for the organization that shows real-time tracking of revenues and costs, as well as developing ongoing monthly and yearly forecasting, so if an issue arises, we can adapt quickly.

HL: What are the biggest challenges hospital CFOs are facing right now? And how can we solve them?

Sunday: Today, hospitals are facing multiple issues in the healthcare industry, including the rising cost of labor, a labor shortage, rising costs of supplies due to inflation, pandemic spikes, and reductions to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. To take on these challenges, we are first looking at ways to not rely on contract labor. That could mean creating a hospital contract labor pool to reduce the impact of contract labor. Other steps would include hiring in-house recruiters to help bring qualified employees into the organization and finding ways to reduce costs, including the reduction of waste and energy consumption. Charge capture is also important to ensure all documentation is being captured on the front end to reduce the likelihood of denials from insurance companies.

HL: How has the great resignation impacted Pardee?

Sunday: Pardee is not immune to the staffing shortages that hospitals and health systems across the country are facing. The shortage of the labor force and the growth of contract labor has made it increasingly difficult to manage hospital expenses. This continued growth is not sustainable, and hospitals have to adapt and find creative ways to hire staff, for example, offering sign-on or referral bonuses to employees. 

HL: Where should hospitals and health systems be making the biggest investments? M&A? Workforce? Technology?

Sunday: The largest investments hospitals should make are in their workforce. Certainly, technology and new equipment are important, but without the doctors, nurses, and support staff to take care of the patient, we can't provide the quality care that our communities expect of us. Like everyone else in today's job market, but especially in healthcare, ensuring we have a qualified workforce is a top priority. Today's competition for the workforce is forcing systems to invest more in this area. 

HL: What are the biggest trends CFOs should watch in the healthcare finance space?

Sunday: For North Carolina, one of the biggest trends CFOs should be on the lookout for in the finance space is Medicaid expansion. North Carolina has not yet expanded Medicaid but appears to be poised to do so. It will be interesting to see how this expansion would impact healthcare and our hospital system. 

Also, we are almost one year into NC Medicaid Managed Care (or Managed Medicaid); we're still evaluating how it has impacted our reimbursements in healthcare. 

Finally, even though we're in a new phase of the COVID pandemic, all healthcare systems will be monitoring what exactly this new phase and associated spikes, treatments, and workforce issues will mean for finances.