Cory Ferrier, Chief Operating Officer of AdventHealth Colorado

Summary

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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast – Episode Summary

Guest: Cory Ferrier, Chief Operating Officer, AdventHealth Littleton
Host: Laura Deardle, Becker’s Healthcare
Date: August 23, 2025
Duration: ~13 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode features Cory Ferrier, COO of AdventHealth Littleton, discussing the rapid transformation and growth underway at AdventHealth, especially in the Denver market. Ferrier shares insights into organizational culture, local service line expansion, the importance of adapting to community needs, and the pivotal role of frontline staff in driving innovation and resilience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Background & Market Context

• Transition to AdventHealth and Colorado:
  • Ferrier recently relocated from Los Angeles to Denver, expressing enthusiasm about exploring the region with his family (01:38–02:18).
  • AdventHealth Littleton is one of five hospitals in Denver’s “Rocky Mountain region” and part of a nine-state system outside Florida (00:37–01:28).
• Community Connection:
  • Ferrier enjoys seeing Colorado through his young son’s eyes and highlights the welcoming local atmosphere (01:38–02:27).

2. Demographic Shifts and Service Alignment

• Older Population Focus:
  • The local area is aging—schools are closing while senior centers open, clearly signaling market needs (03:05–03:56):

    “One of the zip codes in our primary service area is actually closing schools... and opening senior centers. That just shows you exactly what our market is doing.” — Cory Ferrier (03:34)

• Expanding Core Service Lines:
  • Cardiology and orthopedics are top priorities to match demographic trends.

3. Strategic Expansion and Milestones

• Data-Informed Growth:
  • Service offerings are guided by community data and market demands, enabling relevant investments.
• Major Achievement – Heart & Vascular Tower Launch:
  • Week of the interview: Opened Phase 1 of a new Heart and Vascular Institute (two floors), performed first electrophysiology case, and passed an unannounced Joint Commission triannual survey—all simultaneously (04:28–05:51).

    “Our biggest success this week was when we opened phase one of our new heart and vascular tower... while simultaneously going through our unannounced joint commission survey.” — Cory Ferrier (04:41)

  • Additional expansion (additional two floors, ICU beds, ORs) imminent.

4. Organizational Culture and Resilience

• Navigating Transition:
  • AdventHealth Littleton experienced major changes after a disaffiliation and switch to full AdventHealth control, resulting in new EMR, pay structure, benefits, and supply chain products (06:28–07:37).

    “Our staff went through a lot... everything changed on our employees... Some people didn’t stay... The people that did stay and were resilient... is why we were able to do things like this week.” — Cory Ferrier (07:01)

• People-First Philosophy:
  • Ferrier credits AdventHealth's focus on staffing support and resilience as the foundation for success.

5. Growth Strategies and Financial Stewardship

• Expense Management:
  • Proactive in controlling costs amid external financial pressures, prioritizing both quality and affordability (08:30–09:22).
• Becoming a Destination for Specialty Care:
  • Investment in cardiac care positioning Littleton as Denver’s cardiovascular destination, enabled by partnerships like South Denver Cardiology (09:46–10:06).

    “We want to be the destination for cardiovascular care here in the Denver market area.” — Cory Ferrier (09:47)

6. Vision for Future Leadership & Organizational Health

• Preeminent, Mission-Driven Approach:
  • AdventHealth aspires to be a “preeminent faith-based, consumer-focused clinical care company” (10:29–12:01).
• Listening to Staff to Foster Innovation:
  • Ferrier recounts a story where rounding and engaging with staff uncovered an idea to drastically reduce patient test time, demonstrating the power of frontline input (11:17–12:30).

    “For me, when I focus on those employees and say, what do you need to be successful? And then just be quiet and listen to them, I feel like that’s where AdventHealth kind of sticks above the rest.” — Cory Ferrier (12:24)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Market Adaptation:

  “If we don’t align with those opportunities here, both in the region, we’re missing out on our consumers completely.” — Cory Ferrier (03:50)

• Opening Amid Joint Commission:

  “What a challenging week when you have Joint Commission and an opening of a new tower in the same week.” — Cory Ferrier (05:50)

• Operational Resilience:

  “The people that did stay and were resilient and really AdventHealth doubled down and invested in them is why we were able to do things like this week.” — Cory Ferrier (07:15)

• Empowering Frontline Staff:

  “If I hadn’t been rounding and listening to our employees, I may never have gotten that suggestion which is both going to impact our future patients coming in the organization and allow the organization to serve more.” — Cory Ferrier (12:08)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:37–01:28: Overview of AdventHealth system and Ferrier’s move to Denver
• 03:05–03:56: Demographic shifts and aligning services
• 04:28–05:51: Heart & Vascular Tower project and week of major accomplishments
• 06:28–07:37: Cultural transformation and staff resilience
• 08:30–09:22: Strategic growth, affordability, and expense management
• 09:46–10:06: Vision for cardiac care as a market differentiator
• 10:29–12:30: Focus on mission, listening to staff, and story about operational innovation

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Conclusion

Cory Ferrier emphasizes that AdventHealth Littleton’s current and future success is grounded in three pillars: adapting to local community needs, investing in high-value service lines like cardiovascular care, and fostering a resilient, empowered workforce. The episode offers actionable insights into managing organizational change, the necessity of listening to frontline professionals, and staying mission-driven amidst industry transformation.

Transcript

[A]

This is Laura Deardle with the Beckers Healthcare podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Corey Ferrier, Chief Operating Officer at Advent Health, Littleton. Corey, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.

[B]

Thank you so much, Laura. Nice to talk to you again.

[A]

Absolutely. And you know, I'm looking forward to our discussion because I know there's so much happening in healthcare right now and particularly, you know, to be at a hospital in a system like Advent Health, a lot of innovation, but also, you know, just a lot of transformation in serving a very important community there. I'm excited to dive in, but before we do, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and Advent House, Littleton?

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. I was fortunate enough to join Advent Health last year, so I've been here just under a year. Moved from Los Angeles to Denver, Colorado with my family and I couldn't be happier with this transition. Advent Health Littleton is one of five hospitals in the Denver, Colorado market, which we call the Rocky Mountain region. And Advent Health serves nine states, eight of which are outside of Florida. And so we fall into that multi state division. And so, yeah, and you couldn't be more right talking about expansion and growth. It seems like every time I turn on the news, Advent Health is either partnering or merging or building a new hospital somewhere in one of those nine states.

[A]

Absolutely. That's amazing to hear it. And certainly, you know, that seems like it'd be quite a move from LA to Denver. What have you enjoyed most about that?

[B]

Truthfully, seeing the night, the night lights and open skyline. It's been beautiful to go into the mountains especially we moved right before winter, so going up into some of the mountain resort towns and going skiing and just exploring a new area. I was in California probably for the last 15 plus years and so being in a new state where every weekend we get to go explore and do something new has been really fun. I have a one year old, my wife and I have a one year old and his name is Zane. And it has been fun to go explore little splash pads and little parks across the Denver metro area as well.

[A]

Oh, that's amazing to hear and you know, to be able to see all those new things from a one year old's eyes too, I know is an incredible experience, so.

[B]

Exactly, exactly. So I love it when he gets to come in here and have lunch with me. Although I think he distracts most people from talking with me because they just want to play with him.

[A]

Absolutely. No, I don't blame them. So. Well, that's Great. And, you know, I think it's such a unique time in healthcare too, obviously. As you mentioned, Advent Health is growing a ton and seeing a lot of innovation across its different states that it's operating in. And from your perspective, what are some of the big issues that you're focused on? What is top of mind for you as you're looking at, you know, all the things that you're doing in Littleton as well?

[B]

Yeah. So when I look at opportunities, essentially our company has created a national brand, and what we're doing in our region is trying to create relevance for our market. And specifically locally, at my hospital, translate that to consumers selecting our organization for their care. So we serve a slightly older population and so really trying to focus on the services such as cardiology and orthopedics, really aligns with our market. An interesting example, one of the zip codes in our primary service area is actually closing schools, middle schools and a high school and opening senior centers. That just shows you exactly what our market is doing. And if we don't align with those opportunities here, both in the region, we're missing out on our consumers completely.

[A]

Absolutely. That's such an important point. And so, you know, when you look at bringing in those services and enhancing cardio orthopedics, thinking about, you know, those population changes and what you need in order to be successful, how do you approach that kind of expansion or kind of mindset when you're thinking about the future? I know it's never easy to add specialists or add different services, so I'm just curious of what that process is like and how you're thinking about it, especially given some of the uncertainties in the broader healthcare landscape.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. And I think this kind of ties into what I think one of our biggest successes has been here recently. In fact, it even happened this week. So we will look at a market and look at the data and try to understand, like, are we providing the services that match the demographics and what our community actually needs? And when I look at specifically our hospital at Advent Health, Littleton, our biggest success this week was when we opened phase one of our new heart and vascular tower. And so we opened a new heart and vascular institute, two floors, while simultaneously going through our unannounced joint commission triannual survey, which just happened to randomly show up this week. So that was a huge week for the teams. We did our first electrophysiology case in this new tower. And then later this month we will be opening the other two floors, which is a 24 bed cardiovascular ICU and then a cardiovascular operating room, as well as hybrid ors. And so really what we're trying to do is take the data from our community and saying, what are the things that are affecting our community from a health perspective and where should we be investing so that more people can be served here locally without having to commute for their care? But yeah, what a challenging week when you have Joint Commission and an opening of a new tower in the same week.

[A]

Absolutely. You know, how many gray hairs have you woken up with at the end of this week? I can imagine.

[B]

Too many. Way too many.

[A]

Absolutely. But, you know, a huge accomplishment. I think it speaks volumes to your team too, in order to handle all of that. I know you're still relatively new at Advent Health, Littleton, but what have you noticed about the culture of being able to adjust and meet both of those things? You know, the process of opening the new tower and then having to you have the Joint Commission survey at that same time as well.

[B]

I actually think the culture is what drew me to Advent Health really. There's such a focus on our people. And I think a little bit later on I'll be able to share, you know, one of the successes from Advent Health and why they focus on their people. But specifically here, our team locally went through quite a transition period approximately two years ago. We went through a disaffiliation where we were actually joint ventured with another organization. And Advent Health felt that the mission, vision and values of our organization would be better served if the hospitals were 100% with Advent Health's control. And so our staff went through a lot from our EMR changes to everything from, you know, from your benefits and how your pay structure, everything changed on our employees supply chain products that we thought that we used on the floor were actually under the new arrange under our arrangement with Advent Health were different than what they previously used. So as you know, it causes a lot of disruption. And some people didn't stay on with that because it just wasn't for them. The people that did stay and were resilient and really Advent Health doubled down and invested in them is why we were able to do things like this week, which is, you know, simultaneously go through a successful joint commission survey while open and serving our first electrophysiology case. But I think it starts with our people and Advent Health's focus on that is really why it was prevalent.

[A]

That's amazing to hear and, you know, really cool to have that backbone. As you mentioned, you know, being part of an organization that strongly believes in those Mission and vision and values and aligning them in the right way can. Can speak volumes to building the right culture and team on the floor. So, absolutely. When you look into the future, where do you see some of the big opportunities for additional growth over the next few years or so?

[B]

Yeah, well, for here locally, for Advent Health, Littleton, we're doing a couple of things. One, I think we're focused on trying to keep our expenses down. You know, there's so many external things happening around us that are causing the cost of healthcare to go up. And we are trying to do what we can to make sure that we offer high quality but affordable healthcare in the community that we serve. So that's kind of one of the things we're focused on. The second is really on growth and expansion. So clearly we've invested. Avent Health has invested in, you know, a hundred thousand square foot tower that's focused on cardiac. We're looking at the entry points as well for where our patients enter into our system. So our emergency department, you know, is a way that many people enter into your health system for the first time. And so those have been kind of the areas of focus here specifically for us with Advent Health, Littleton.

[A]

Got it. That makes a lot of sense. And absolutely it seems like a great opportunity to continue leveling up that care and hitting the right type of quality as well as, you know, having that tower in place, I can just imagine will be a huge accomplishment for all those who've been involved in the planning and process of building and then opening it, too. What a great resource for the community for sure.

[B]

For sure. We want to be the destination for cardiovascular care here in the Denver Market area. And with the investment we've made in the infrastructure and the partnership we've had with one of our physician groups called South Denver Cardiology, I think it's allowing us and patients and consumers are starting to see that difference.

[A]

Fantastic. Well, in that vein, you know, when you look ahead over the next five years or so, what do you see as being essential to leading a thriving organization? I think especially as we're going through a transformation, transformational time overall in healthcare, but in particularly for you in the Denver market, what does that really look like? What do you need to be equipped with in order to make sure you continue to grow and succeed?

[B]

Yeah, and this is probably my favorite question that we're going to talk about today, Laura, because I think it goes along some of the lines of things that we've mentioned earlier. But one of the things that I'm really Proud of at Advent Health is their mission, which is to be a preeminent. Sorry, their vision, which is to be a preeminent faith based, consumer focused clinical care company. When you hear the word preeminent, there's some pretty powerful brands that you probably think of and that I think of. But one of the factors for me personally that goes along with the word preeminent is service for us to keep a thriving organization. I think it starts with our people and you heard me give some examples earlier in our discussion. Our staff, our clinical care teams, our physicians, we have to create an environment that they love to be in. Do they have the tools to do their jobs? Are we removing barriers and focusing on wellness and burnout for them? If we as an organization focus on these things, we're actually empowering them to actually deliver on our mission and vision of the organization. And I have a good example of this. I mean, just earlier this week when I was rounding in, one of our departments happened to go into our nuclear medicine department. And I'm not a nuke med tech by background and so I have to rely on their expertise for a lot of things. My new MedTech felt so comfortable with sharing with me on something that is going to grow and provide access to our community, to something we don't provide today, that they pulled me aside and said, hey, we do a certain test here that takes three to four hours per patient. There's another way that we could do this test that actually limits it to 30 minutes, which means we could treat more patients. And to me, it's like if I hadn't been rounding and listening to our employees, I may not, I may never have gotten that suggestion which is both going to impact our future patients coming in the organization and allow the organization to serve more of the patients that we serve. And so for me, when I focus on those employees and say, what do you need to be successful? And then just be quiet and listen to them, I feel like that's where Advent Health kind of sticks above the rest and we get those great ideas that helps keep us moving and thriving in this tough environment.

[A]

I love that. Corey, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This has been a really amazing conversation. I learned so much and I'm just inspired by your energy and passion here. So I appreciate the opportunity to connect with you and look forward to continuing the conversation soon.

[B]

Thank you, Laura. I appreciate it. Happy Friday.