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The most important health care decisions don't happen

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in isolation.

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They happen when leaders come together.

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Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings together more than

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3,500

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hospital and health system executives this April in

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Chicago.

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With 800 speakers from Ascension,

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Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit and more, the conversations get

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real. Leaders will share how their scenario planning

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for policy shifts, breaking through value based care

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barriers, and building clinical teams that translate

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This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare

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podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by

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Sofia Holder, executive vice president and chief financial

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officer of CHOP Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

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Sofia, it's a pleasure to have you on

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the podcast today.

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Good morning. It's a pleasure. Thank you.

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Now I'm excited for our conversation because I

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know there's so much happening in health care,

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and especially looking at some of the different

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financial pressures hospitals have been going through in

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the last couple of years and, you know,

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looking at what could be ahead as well.

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I think you are sitting in such a

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unique position,

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to be meeting some of these challenges with

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very creative solutions, and so I'm excited to

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get your perspective on some of the things

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you've been doing at CHAP, as well as

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how you're thinking about the future. But before

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we dive in,

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can you tell us a little bit more

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about yourself and CHOP?

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Yes. I'll be happy to.

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I I could spend all day talking about

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CHOP.

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We are an amazing organization. I am coming

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up on

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five years at,

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this institution.

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And what many may not know

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about CHOP is that we were founded

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in 1855.

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So we have a rich history,

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and we were the first hospital

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in the nation dedicated

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exclusively

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to the care of children. And so we

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we feel strongly that we set the standard

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for pediatric health care, delivery,

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even today.

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We are

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now one of the largest

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organizations

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that are addressing comprehensively

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pediatric care delivery.

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We we provide care across the full spectrum,

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as you might imagine, of care. So inpatient,

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outpatient specialty services, we care for children

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from all 50 states and around the world.

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And

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what what I feel really proud about with

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respect to CHOP is that we

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are really committed and grounded

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in our mission.

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We are committed to research and discoveries and

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innovating

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truly on care for children,

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and really translate in

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breakthrough science into better outcomes.

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Right? And so what really differentiates

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CHOP

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is

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that really wonderful

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integration

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of world class clinical care,

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leading edge research,

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and

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an unwavering

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focus on children and families. We believe

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that that helps us to

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shape the future of health care

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pediatric delivery

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while being grounded

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in our founding mission.

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I love that, especially

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the real clear focus on the patients and

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their families and being able to

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provide the best care possible as well as

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having that research discovery innovation,

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that pushes that mission forward.

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Now from your perspective, could you tell me

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a little bit more about an initiative you

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led in the last year or so? What

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did you do, and what were the results?

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Thank you. Yeah. I I would say,

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I I tend not to think

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about the the most important work as something

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I led personally,

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but but really as the work that we

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enabled

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within our organization

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together.

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And over the last year, the that work

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was about restoring

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financial

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strength

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in a way that positions us for the

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future

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of pediatric health care.

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We focused

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on

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building discipline

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into how we plan,

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how we invest,

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and make decisions so that CHOP can adapt.

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We are in an increasingly

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complex health care landscape.

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How we innovate

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and how we grow in a sustainable way.

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And so this meant for us in having

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more honest

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conversations,

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making clearer choices, really tune in our prioritization

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framework,

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and aligning our resources

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with what matters most

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for children and their families.

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And so the result was not only

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improved financial performance, which,

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I was really grateful for as the CFO,

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but stronger

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organizational

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alignment

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and a clear connection between

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the financial decisions

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and patient impact, which is why we are

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all here every day.

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And and so we recognize that our work

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is not done and that we are

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on a journey.

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That makes a lot of sense. And I

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I think, you know, I really appreciate the

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way you talk about thinking about the future

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in investing, planning, and adapting no matter what

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happens because I know there's been so many

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changes within the health care space in the

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last five years and then in the last

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six months even. So Yes. Having that type

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of, flexibility, I can imagine, is critical.

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Now looking ahead, what are some of your

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big priorities as well as headwinds you're focused

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on for 2026?

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I I and I would say here the

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the priorities and headwinds are certainly closely connected.

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We are focused

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on

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sustaining

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financial performance

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in an environment

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of

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continued labor pressures,

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reimbursement dynamics,

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and ongoing volatility in volumes. And at the

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same time,

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we are prioritizing

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long

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term capability building. And and so what do

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I mean by that? Right? We are we

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are looking at our workforce

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optimization, where do we need to invest in

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our people or or

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most important asset.

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We we're looking at revenue cycle resilience.

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We're looking at capital discipline. Right? We are

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continuing looking at how we prioritize

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the the sort of rich needs around capital

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at this time

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and how we

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increasingly,

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and and in a responsible way, deploy automation

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and AI

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to reduce

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administrative burden,

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improve

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data driven decision making,

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and support overall health care delivery.

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And so the challenge, not like not unlike

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many of our peers likely, is balancing

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near term performance

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with these longer term

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investments

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so that

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we do not do not compromise

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access,

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do not compromise

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growth in our longer strategic objectives,

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or we do not

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compromise innovation

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for children and families.

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That's helpful to understand. I I think looking

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at the workforce and workforce optimization,

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I can imagine

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so much goes into that,

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between the, you know, human workforce and the

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technology that comes into play and then figuring

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out how you can continue to be innovative,

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despite some of the financial challenges and risks

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you mentioned as well. So I I I

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know that's a huge puzzle and a lot

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to figure out, but what do you think

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the hardest thing you'll have to do in

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the coming year will be?

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How long do you have?

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I think, really, our our hardest work ahead

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is,

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continuing to make

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disciplined,

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and really

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sometimes uncomfortable decisions

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while staying grounded and anchored in our mission.

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And that includes

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likely saying no to investments

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that

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do not clearly advance

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access,

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quality,

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and sustainability,

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and pushing ourselves to

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rethink

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legacy structures and our ways of working.

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And in pediatrics especially,

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every decision carries

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emotional weight.

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And so the challenge

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is leading with

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transparency

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and courage

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while keeping the organization aligned around

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what it truly takes to remain strong

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for the long term.

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I hear that, you know, looking at some

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of those decisions and being disciplined is not

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always easy, but having that courage to lead

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and know what you're doing in the right

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direction,

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really will lead to that sustainability that you

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were talking about earlier in our conversation too.

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And, you know, I wanted to ask not

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only about the hard things, but also about,

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you know, how you're thinking about growth in

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the future too. What are some of the

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big opportunities that you're looking at, and how

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do you see CHOP continuing to grow and

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flourish as we go on?

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And I would tell you, CHOP is amazing.

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Like, we have

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a a a strong growth mindset,

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and our best

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growth opportunities really sit at the intersection

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of mission and discipline.

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And that includes, for us, at spending access

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through

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ambulatory

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and virtual models,

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strengthening partnerships

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regionally,

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nationally, and internationally, quite frankly,

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and skill and services where

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pediatric expertise

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truly differentiates

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outcomes

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for patients.

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And, internally, growth also means for us

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raising and growing our capabilities.

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So we are focused on developing leaders.

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We are focused on modernizing

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our operating models.

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And

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as the CFO, we are also focused on

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embedding

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this notion of financial stewardship

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into everyday

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decision making.

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Right? It's not sort of a one off.

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It's ingrained

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into our culture.

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And so when we do that well,

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growth becomes

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sustainable,

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not just bigger. Right? Not just bigger, but

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stronger.

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And so this is an exciting time

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for us at CHOP, ripe with opportunities despite,

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sort of the the changes

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that are surrounding

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the entire health care landscape.

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Absolutely. I love that, Sofia. Thank you so

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much for joining us on the podcast today.

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This has been such a fun and inspiring

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and

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I look forward to, continuing it at our

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annual meeting. I know you'll be speaking with

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us in April, and, it'll be fantastic to

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hear a little bit more, go a bit

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deeper into some of the things you're doing

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at CHAP, and then,

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be able to connect with other finance and

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strategic leaders across the spectrum,

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to really, you know, figure out how we

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can tackle some of these big challenges that

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we've been discussing today in a strategic and

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meaningful way. So looking forward to that and

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seeing you then.

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Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to

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join you on the podcast, and I'm really

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looking forward to the April meeting where I

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can not just network, but learn and grow

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with my colleagues, across, the country.