The Exec: UVA Health’s New CFO Champions Clarity Over Comfort

Stephanie Schnittger is bringing a bold leadership approach shaped by transparency and people-centered values.

As UVA Health prepares to navigate a financial transformation, its incoming CFO brings to the role a leadership style rooted in transparency, strategic foresight, and a deep belief in people-first finance.

Starting in July, Stephanie Schnittger will bring nearly three decades of experience in healthcare finance and a track record in complex turnarounds; Schnittger’s approach is shaped by lessons learned across community health systems and now refined for a leading academic medical center like UVA.

Transparency as a Financial Strategy

At the core of Schnittger’s leadership philosophy is a principle that may sound deceptively simple: Tell the truth.

“In my first six weeks in my previous organization, what I heard consistently from board and finance committee members was, ‘Your transparency is refreshing,’” she recalled.

For Schnittger, honesty is more than a moral stance, it’s a must for being a healthcare leader. In complex systems with unintended or unforeseen consequences, she believes that downplaying financial challenges only erodes trust and undermines the CFO’s ability to influence change.

 “The CFO has to be among the most trusted leaders in an organization for it to be financially viable and sustainable over time.” she said.

Strategic Thinking, Minus Complacency

While she’s cautious of buzzwords like “strategic mindset,” Schnittger does believe in “thinking a few steps ahead.” She approaches financial leadership with a cautious eye on federal and state reimbursement models, especially Medicaid, warning against over-reliance on current structures.

“I think it's fair to say there's a heightened degree of uncertainty at the federal level,” she said. “Don't get too comfortable with this reimbursement structure because it could change.”

Her policy acumen is both personal and professional—her proximity to Washington D.C. and her experience working with advocacy teams have made her a strong advocate for state-level engagement, particularly around Medicaid program design.

“If you think about it, with 50 different states, we likely have 50 different Medicaid programs,” she said. “The Medicaid program has a huge impact on how health systems get paid for the services, so it's really critical to be vigilant and targeted in advocacy efforts at the state level.”

Investing in People and Culture

Alongside a strong command of financial systems and technology, including ERP and EHR optimization, Schnittger also emphasizes that success comes down to people over platforms.

“Technology is an enabler to what a great team does and can take them to the next level,” she said.

She’s especially passionate about building curiosity-driven teams, encouraging staff to challenge norms and finding better solutions.

“Inspiring natural curiosity in folks, especially in the finance area, is so important,” she said. “So they are always thinking about how to solve the next problem or thinking, ‘is there a better way we could be doing these things?”

This people-first mindset extends to succession planning.

“We should all be working ourselves out of a job,” she joked. It is the responsibility of healthcare leaders, she says, to bring in people who can do the job and figure out a way to get them there.

As Schnittger transitions from community-based systems to UVA Health’s academic medical center, she’s preparing for cultural differences while embracing the mission-driven mindset. She views the academic model as a unique opportunity to strengthen the pipeline of future clinical leaders in an era of looming workforce shortages.

She’s also grounded in operational realism.

“I’m not the most organized person by nature,” she admitted. “But I prioritize well, . I prioritize the most important things that add value.”

To other CFOs managing today’s margin pressures and workforce constraints, Schnittger offers this: “Have confidence and conviction, but don't take it all on as your own responsibility. It's not the CFOs job to just make sure we can make the margin or hit the targets that we've set out, it's the whole organization’s responsibility.”

To Schnittger, being the CFO “means being the communicator, having integrity, having a healthy dose of self-awareness, and hopefully with those attributes I have the ability to inspire and motivate others.”