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The Exec: Curiosity Drives Holy Name Medical Center’s New CFO

Analysis  |  By Marie DeFreitas  
   January 29, 2025

Stay curious, stay collaborative, says Doug Zehner.

Holy Name Medical Center has tapped Doug Zehner as its new CFO.

Zehner started at the health system in January, bringing in more than 30 years of healthcare finance and operations experience. Previously a Regional CFO with Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health (RWJBH), he has also held the title of Chief Operating Officer for Newark Beth Israel (NBIMC). On top of this, Zehner has also held CFO positions at Washington Hospital Center, and HCA Healthcare.

Zehner says one factor that influenced his decision to join Holy Name was its size.

Coming from positions at large organizations, Zehner shared that often, in independent health systems, decisions can be made more rapidly, more nimbly.

“One of the calling cards of the health system is its ability to react to situations and  move quickly to solve problems or to create opportunities, and that's appealing to me, “ he says.

Curious and Collaborative

Zehner was a COO for a number of years, adding to his knowledge of what can and cannot work for a health system. Now, he’s taking his leadership skills to Holy Name and applying them to finance.

“My style is curious and collaborative, and so [I like] to understand what problems are out there and what we're trying to solve,” he says. “I've learned a lot about how these types of organizations and hospitals work and how people attack issues, and where some of the blind spots exist in organizations. And so I think for me, to bring that operational experience in, it gives me credibility in the room.”

Zehner says it’s difficult for finance leaders to know which new solutions or new hires are the right ones to prioritize. Sometimes, they can feel like they wasted time, money and resources on investments that didn’t bring the kind of value to the community and organization as expected. This is why it’s imperative for CFOs to not make decisions in isolation.

Zehner says it’s important to allow the people that are going to be affected by decisions to participate in the dialogue, which helps to avoid missteps.

In terms of leadership style, Zehner knows collaboration is key.

“That's what I've learned from working with robust medical staff: Leadership is bringing folks into the conversation,” he says.

“We have to take that nimbleness that we've got and make sure that it's an asset for us and not  a liability. Make sure that we move quickly when we're ready to strike, but [also], we want to make sure that we're making the right decision, and we're thinking about all the affected parties. So that's what collaboration kind of looks like to me.”

Zehner created the financial planning division at his previous health system, which, in a nutshell, took financial analysts and tasked them with deep dives on major decisions. From acquisitions to partnerships, this team examined it all in detail, preparing every decision for retrospective analysis. 

Zehner says this team also examined the pathway of new initiatives to the community and the impact made there.

“It does slow things down a little bit to do that, but it makes the organization a little bit smarter about what it's doing,” he says.

Looking Ahead

What’s up next in Zehner’s playbook for Holy Name? Staying competitive, he says. Being in a smaller health system, Zehner knows the organization won’t have all the same financial advantages as its competitors, so it will be important to look at operations through an innovative lens.

“I want to look at whatever we can to try to make sure we can stay hyper competitive,” he says.

Marie DeFreitas is the CFO editor for HealthLeaders.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

Doug Zehner has joined Holy Name Medical Center as the health system’s new CFO

Zehner brings over 30 years of healthcare finance and operations experience. 

Staying competitive will be one of Zehner’s top priorities for the system.


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