Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health has named Penny Cermak as its new chief financial officer.
Cermak has served in a number of leadership roles since joining the not-for-profit health system in 2012, most recently as senior vice president and CFO for hospitals and clinics. In that position, she oversaw hospitals, clinics, research, education, foundations, joint ventures, debt and quality alliance. The new role will add all corporate financial functions to that mix, including tax, revenue cycle, strategic financial services, treasury and the system's health plan.
Jim Hinton, Baylor Scott & White's CEO, said in a statement that Cermak is committed to making healthcare better and more affordable for the millions of Texans they serve.
"Her time at Baylor Scott & White has been focused on achieving financial improvements and spreading best practices, and we are confident she will continue to help us advance our strategy in her new role as system CFO," he said.
Cermak, who was selected following a national search, replaces Pete McCanna, who had served in the position on an interim basis in addition to his role as Baylor Scott & White president since February 2018, when former CFO Fred Savelsbergh left the health system. McCanna will now focus solely on his role as president.
Following the 2013 merger to create Baylor Scott & White, Cermak played a pivotal role in integrating financial systems and processes, the health system said in a news release. She also co-led the standardization of operational and financial best practices. Most recently, Cermak helped the system's hospitals and clinics grow their operating income by more than $100 million year-over-year in fiscal 2018 through better productivity, supply chain and purchased services savings and administrative efficiencies.
Cermak has also served as CFO of the health system's Central Texas division and senior vice president of financial services. Prior to joining Baylor Scott & White, she was the CFO of BroMenn Healthcare System in Normal, Ill., for nearly 10 years. That system later merged into Advocate Health Care in 2010. She started her career with five years of public accounting experience.
Cermak earned bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from Illinois State University and is a certified public accountant. She earned fellowship status from the Healthcare Financial Management Association and was a member of its board for three years.
Baylor Scott & White made news in February for calling off its proposed merger with Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System five months after the systems signed a letter of intent. It reported revenue of $4.9 billion in the six months ended Dec. 31, 2018.
