Special Advertising Section
Bill Pugh has a deeper personal connection to health care than most healthcare CFOs. Much of his childhood was spent visiting hospitals, as his mother battled heart disease until she passed away when he was 13.
“The medical bills that accumulated were so burdensome that my father lost his business and we lost our home. I think my childhood experiences, whether consciously or subconsciously, led to my career.”
Ironically, his first job in the healthcare industry came at the age of 20 in PinnacleHealth’s business office, helping people access grant programs to pay their hospital bills. Today, with more than 35 years in senior healthcare leadership in various locations, he says returning to PinnacleHealth and Harrisburg in 2007 was a way of “coming full circle.”
Pugh focuses on patient care through his commitment to processes that work as efficiently as possible. PinnacleHealth, which generates more than a billion dollars in patient revenues annually, keeps costs below the national average.
He believes a large part of the CFO’s role is navigating the significant influence that government has in the overall healthcare system, particularly “laws and regulations regarding payment that impose tremendous costs on the care delivery system.”
He believes PinnacleHealth is poised to deliver the best experiences, relationships with staff and outcomes for every patient. With close to 6,000 employees, PinnacleHealth discharges over 37,000 inpatients from its three hospitals annually. Each year, the ERs manage more than 137,000 visits.
Pugh notes that the role of hospitals has evolved from a primary focus on acute care to a broader approach to quality of life. “Hospital-based health systems are more focused on the health of the population and providing care outside the hospital to help prevent the serious consequences of chronic illness. More than 600,000 primary visits to PinnacleHealth’s medical group each year is evidence of that focus on preventative medicine.”
This is a “transformative” time in healthcare, Pugh believes, with spotlights on costs acting as a positive stimulus for change. He feels his job is to make sure PinnacleHealth is financially sustainable and uses resources to meet the community's needs with the highest quality and in the most cost-effective manner.
PinnacleHealth System | 111 South Front Street | Harrisburg, PA 17101 pinnaclehealth.org | 717-231-8900 Back to The Faces of the Susquehanna Valley
