Dive Brief:
- HCA Healthcare’s chief clinical officer will step down from the role at the end of August, the for-profit hospital operator said in securities filing Thursday.
- Dr. Michael Cuffe has led the health system’s clinical operations since 2022.
- Cuffe will remain at HCA as an executive consultant until February to assist with the transition, a spokesperson said.
Dive Insight:
Cuffe joined HCA in 2011 as president and CEO of physician services. He took on the chief clinical officer role about a decade later, managing clinical quality, nursing, care transformation and clinical informatics at the for-profit, which operates nearly 190 hospitals across 19 states and the U.K.
Details about his successor will be released at the “appropriate time,” the HCA spokesperson said.
“During his 15 years with HCA Healthcare, Dr. Cuffe helped shape our clinical strategy to strengthen quality and patient safety, expand access to care, and advance innovation across our organization,” HCA said in a statement. “We are grateful for his leadership and contributions to our organization, our patients and our colleagues, and we wish him well in this next chapter of his life.”
HCA has made other executive changes this year. In January, Virginia Tenpenny joined the health system as vice president of community engagement, and HCA promoted company veteran Erica Rossitto to serve as chief nurse executive in February.
Additionally, earlier this month Cynthia Cifuentes-Finkel joined the for-profit from Kaiser Permanente as senior vice president of marketing and corporate affairs.
The hires come as HCA — and other providers — are preparing for new financial pressures as the federal government cuts back on healthcare spending.
The expiration of more generous financial assistance for Affordable Care Act plans cost HCA about $150 million in the first quarter this year as the health system cared for more uninsured patients.
Still, the for-profit’s revenue rose about 4% year over year to $19.1 billion. Net income rose less than 1% to $1.6 billion.
