Providence didn't have to go far to find its new chief financial officer; the health system has named its interim CFO to the C-suite role.
Greg Hoffman has served in the interim role since August 2020. The Renton, Wash.-based health system said his promotion to CFO is effective Tuesday.
Hoffman replaces Venkat Bhamidipati, a former Microsoft executive who served as the health system's finance chief for three years before returning to the tech world. He now serves as chief financial officer for the computer security company McAfee.
Before becoming interim CFO, Hoffman was Providence's chief transformation officer. In that role, he worked to modernize administrative and care delivery services. The health system said Hoffman has led the charge to integrate financial planning functions like budgeting, cost accounting and productivity.
Providence CEO Dr. Rod Hochman said in a statement that effective financial stewardship is essential to advancing the not-for-profit health system's mission.
"Greg shepherded financials in the second half of 2020 and helped ensure we had a stable financial foundation as well as the resources needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, while driving innovation to ensure we have a firm financial foundation as we move into the post-pandemic renewal phase," he said.
Before joining Providence, Hoffman held leadership roles at Visa and T-Mobile. He also worked for HP and Deloitte Consulting.
Hoffman takes over at a precarious time for a health system that's been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Providence lost $214 million on operations on $18.9 billion in revenue in the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2020, a 1.1% loss margin. That's despite having recognized $682 million in federal relief grants during that period. The health system's admissions were down more than 12% year-over-year in the period.
Providence also announced two new regional leadership roles responsible for the northern and southern portions of its seven-state footprint. Lisa Vance, currently chief executive of Oregon, will become president of operations and strategy for the northern regions that Providence serves: Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Montana. She'll continue to serve as chief executive for the Oregon region.
Erik Wexler, currently chief executive of Southern California, will become president of operations and strategy for the southern region, which includes Northern California, Southern California, Texas and New Mexico.