Expanding Access and Innovation at BJC Health with CFO Scott Hawig

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: “Expanding Access and Innovation at BJC Health with CFO Scott Hawig”

Date: February 28, 2026
Host: Madeline, Becker's Healthcare
Guest: Scott Hawig, Executive Vice President and CFO, BJC Health

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the evolution, challenges, and opportunities facing BJC Health from the perspective of its relatively new CFO, Scott Hawig. The conversation explores themes such as access to care, organizational rebranding, industry innovation, and the changing role of healthcare finance leaders. Scott shares his insights into how BJC is addressing significant healthcare trends while fostering resilience and engagement within its finance team.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Scott Hawig and BJC Health

• Scott’s Background: New to BJC Health as of September 2025, previously in the Midwest healthcare sector [01:02].
• BJC Health Overview:
  • 14 hospitals
  • $12 billion system
  • Serves patients across Kansas, Missouri, and Southern Illinois
  • Known for quality care

“Really excited to be part of this team and, and part of the mission that they serve.” – Scott Hawig [01:21]

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2. Organizational Rebranding & Strategic Merger

• Rebranding:
  • Shifted from “BJC Healthcare” to “BJC Health” for unified messaging and cultural cohesion [02:05].
• 2024 Merger: Recently merged with St. Luke's, expanding reach and service capabilities.
• Singular Identity:
  • Importance of clarity for patients regardless of which BJC location they visit

“It was really ... the rallying cry on identifying who we are regardless of what location you come to see us in.” – Scott Hawig [02:22]

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3. Industry Challenges: The Primacy of Access

• Top Trend: Access is Scott’s main priority above all other industry pressures [03:20].
• Rising Demand:
  • Higher community acuity levels
  • Financial, regulatory, and staffing pressures are all viewed through the “prism of rising demand.”
• Access as a Catalyst:
  • Drives quality, satisfaction, and consumer-oriented care

“The headliner for me is Access. We have overwhelming demand for our services.” – Scott Hawig [03:22]

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4. BJC’s Strategies to Enhance Access & Innovation

• Region-Specific Solutions:
  • Access strategies are tailored by geography (rural vs. urban) [04:35].
  • Deployment models differ for primary/virtual care
• Technological & Process Innovation:
  • Early adoption of eICU and critical care monitoring [05:15]
  • Expansion enabled through innovative platforms and virtual solutions
• Freestanding Emergency Departments (EDs):
  • “Micro hospital” strategy, especially in St. Luke’s/Kansas City region [05:53]
  • High throughput, rapid access (10-15 min), improved patient satisfaction
  • Considers this as a pilot for broader deployment

“The patient satisfaction for that experience is really, you know, has shown us a lot…” – Scott Hawig [06:15]

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5. Aging Population as a Central Concern

• Demographic Shifts:
  • Increasing proportion of elderly patients in the Midwest
  • Adjusting deployment strategies accordingly [07:01]

“It is kind of central to how we think about deploying service and that consumerism ... for that customer.” – Scott Hawig [07:21]

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6. Building a Resilient, Connected Finance Team

• Post-COVID Adaptations:
  • Remote/hybrid work widespread
  • Keeping staff engaged by directly connecting finance roles to the mission [07:47]
• Bridging Mission Gap:
  • Finance staff visit clinical sites, see operations first-hand, talk to care teams (e.g., for capital projects)
  • Importance of transparency and ongoing communication about industry challenges

“If we can’t solve it, who can? And so playing in that message too, I think is important.” – Scott Hawig [08:47]

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7. Evolution of the CFO Role

• From Number Cruncher to Business Operator:
  • CFOs increasingly serve as “COOs in training” with responsibilities far beyond accounting [09:23]
  • Involvement spans managed care, supply chain, reimbursement, and the business/clinical interface
  • Focus on financial education/translation for operators, and two-way feedback

“It’s really that operator ... understanding the business. In times we provide education... then a lot of times we’re hearing feedback from the operators.” – Scott Hawig [09:50]

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8. Looking Forward: Research, Innovation, and Optimism

• Academic Partnerships:
  • Emphasizes research relationships with major academic partners (e.g., Washington University, St. Luke’s in Kansas City) [10:49]
• Breakthroughs in Care:
  • Advances in genomics, less invasive cancer treatments
  • Moving toward potential cures rather than only treating symptoms

“It provides a way to think about all those challenges ... how they could be solvable. And in many cases, we're talking about cure, not just treating symptoms.” – Scott Hawig [11:37]

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On BJC’s Identity Post-Rebrand [02:22]:
  “It was really ... the rallying cry on identifying who we are regardless of what location you come to see us in.”
• On Patient Access [03:22]:
  “The headliner for me is Access. We have overwhelming demand for our services.”
• On Innovative ED Models [06:15]:
  “The patient satisfaction for that experience is really, you know, has shown us a lot…”
• On Finance Team Engagement [08:47]:
  “If we can’t solve it, who can? And so playing in that message too, I think is important.”
• On the Evolving CFO Role [09:50]:
  “It’s really that operator ... understanding the business. In times we provide education... then a lot of times we’re hearing feedback from the operators.”
• On the Future of Research at BJC [11:37]:
  “It provides a way to think about all those challenges ... how they could be solvable. And in many cases, we're talking about cure, not just treating symptoms.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:02] Scott Hawig’s introduction and BJC overview
• [02:05] Discussion of rebranding and St. Luke’s merger
• [03:20] BJC’s focus on access to care; industry-wide access challenges
• [04:35] How BJC customizes access strategies for different regions
• [05:53] Freestanding ED/micro-hospital innovation and patient satisfaction
• [07:01] Responding to aging patient demographics
• [07:47] Fostering resilient, mission-connected finance teams
• [09:23] How the CFO role has changed in recent years
• [10:49] Excitement for BJC’s research and innovation partnerships

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Conclusion

Through Scott Hawig’s fresh perspective, this episode offers insight into how BJC Health is navigating industry headwinds by prioritizing access, embracing innovation, and adapting its leadership and workforce strategies. With an eye toward research-led breakthroughs and operational excellence, BJC Health continues to position itself as a leader in shaping the future of healthcare delivery.

Transcript

[A]

Every year, Becker's annual meeting brings healthcare leaders together to unpack the most pressing issues facing the industry. And every year, those conversations shift in profound and unexpected ways. This April, more than 3,500 healthcare executives will return to Chicago for Becker's 16th annual meeting. 795 elite speakers will offer new lessons, new case studies, and predictions about what comes next. Join us April 13th through the 16th. For the agenda and event details, visit BeckersHospReview.com and click on the Events tab in the upper right.

[B]

This is Madeline with the Becker CFO and Revenue Cycle Podcast. And I'm thrilled to be joined today by Scott Hoig, Executive Vice president and CFO of BJC Health in St. Louis. How are you doing, Scott? Thanks so much for joining me.

[A]

Thank you for having me. Great to be here.

[B]

Wonderful. So before we kick things off, Scott, do you mind sharing just a little bit about yourself and BJC Health with our listeners?

[A]

Sure. Scott Howig joining you. Glad to be here again. I'm the CFO at BJC Health beginning in September of 2025. So I'm still relatively new here at BJC. It's a 14 hospital, $12 billion system based in St. Louis, Missouri. Serves patients throughout Kansas, Missouri and Southern Illinois. National reputation for quality of care. So really excited to be part of this team and, and part of the mission that they serve.

[B]

Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing. So, you know, let's dive in here. So you know, as you and I just discussed right before we kicked off the podcast, BJC Health did rebrand later last year was originally BJC Healthcare, now BJC Health and as you mentioned, $11 billion organization. So all of this in mind, can you let me know kind of how that rebranding went? I know that the System merged with St. Luke's in 2024 as well. So how, how are things going?

[A]

Just overall going really well and, and specific to the, the branding and the name change, as I mentioned, the region, the relatively large region we serve between Kansas, Missouri and Southern Illinois, some of our capabilities draw from markets even beyond that. It was important for us to have, I'll say, kind of a singular message on who are they were coming to see. It flows through to the culture of our people, to we deliver regardless of sight, to the way we believe we treat patients and our staff and put people first. And so it was really, you can say, the rallying cry on identifying who we are regardless of what location you come to see us in.

[B]

Wonderful. And I want to self correct Myself, I think I said 11 billion. You said 12 billion, correct?

[A]

Yeah. I'm trying to get you to round up.

[B]

Yeah, 12 billion. Understood. Well, so, Scott, could you share with me, you know, as across your time in the industry, we've seen a lot of changes in health care recently as well. Being newer to the system, as you mentioned at the beginning, could you share with myself and some listeners maybe the broader challenges that you're currently focused on in healthcare right now? Maybe some things you're following closely in the industry and why these trends are so important to you?

[A]

Yeah, I'd say top of mind. The headliner for me is Access. We have overwhelming demand for our services. The acuity level, the severity of the issues we're seeing in our community is rising. And so to me, we can talk today about regulatory changes coming. In the regulatory environment. There's certainly a labor supply, just a number of people we need physician, nurse, allied health professional in order to deliver the care and the financial pressure generally that providers are under. And that includes affordability of what our payers and patients are under. But that's all under the prism of rising demand. So that's why I lead with Access. How can we ensure that we see everyone timely? I think it drives our quality program. It drives. I mentioned earlier, you know, kind of our view around patient satisfaction and consumerism. To me, that's the one I follow the most closely. And I'll say tie all those other tentacles back to.

[B]

Yeah. What are some ways that you at BJC Health are making sure to bring that access to patients?

[A]

Yeah. One of the draws to me to BJC was the what wide reach it had and all the different types of geographies and settings and size communities that they serve. I bring that up because Access looks a little different in each of those settings, from a rural community towards more of an urban community. How you deploy primary care, what you can do virtually, it all looks and feels a little bit different. I put BJC as a leader in that camp in terms of making sure our doors are open to that access and being a leader in innovation and looking for new business processes and technology in order to do that. And so it's new primary care models, it's virtual things like eicu, which the industry as a whole has come around to seeing the benefits of BJC and its partner Watch. You were one of the early adopters of that in terms of how you can bring some of that critical care monitoring into our communities. So it's innovation like that that I think Put BJC as a leader on opening doors to access.

[B]

We're seeing a lot of expansion to systems with freestanding eds, freestanding ers. However you'd like to say it. Is that something that has been of interest at BJC Health?

[A]

Yeah, it is. In particular, what I'll call is our west region or St. Luke's in the Kansas City market. Was to your point, was an early adopter of that micro hospital strategy. Have found those to the throughput the ability to see somebody within 10 to 15 minutes. The patient satisfaction for that experience is really, you know, has shown us a lot and given us a lot of feedback in terms of how we run ED and urgent cares and that emergent type surgeon service everywhere. What we are able to deploy to those sites as a virtual basis. So consultations. Right. To determine what type of situation that patient is having is you could say in many ways as a pilot on what we think we can do in other locations. And so, yeah, that's another good example of kind of BGC's innovation in that space.

[B]

Yeah. And sticking to your point about care access, one more question for you. Also hearing a lot of CFOs talking about, you know, making sure they're providing the proper care to aging populations, is this something you're also seeing?

[A]

It is. I'm broadly say I'm in the Midwest and I came from a Midwest place and I'm going to say I'm still in the Midwest. And aging population is something that holds throughout the Midwest. And so that is the a rising amount of our volume. It is a rising amount of our demographic, the aging of the populations we serve. And so it is kind of central to how we think about deploying service and that consumerism, if you will, for that customer.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. You know, maybe some of these ongoing industry challenges that we're seeing. What are some ways that you're working with your finance team to keep them resilient and engaged, essentially? Maybe that secret sauce that you might have.

[A]

Yeah, I think key and I'll tie that a little bit to, you know, post Covid or in the middle of COVID there, for that part of the workforce, there was a movement to hybrid or work from home or work remote. And so I bring that up now because I think part of resiliency and part of keeping them engaged is a way to remind them of the mission and in particular for finance staff and my teams, how we can go to our, our sites, our hospitals, our clinics. And so it could be something as little as if one of them is asking for capital. Do we for a specific project, do we go to that site and look at the current or, or the med surg floor round with our care team and just hear directly from them, how have they made it work? What would they like to take it to? Small things like that. That our way of communicating the mission to, you know, to some of our staff who are a little bit further away from direct patient care, I think is critical. Wrap around that. Just the transparency and, and you know, finding new ways to communicate about all the challenges we've mentioned in the industry. That's why, why you work at a place like bjc. Because if we can't solve it, who can? And so playing in that message too, I think is important.

[B]

And I know you mentioned at the beginning of the podcast you're a little newer to your role at bjc, but how have you seen the CFO role evolve these last few months amid all these changes? Maybe just beyond that financial numbers crunching aspect?

[A]

Yeah, I'd say, you know, I've been fortunate in my career at the prior place and then it holds true here at BJC as well to be a hobby operator, you know, a chief operating officer in training as part of the CFO role. And part of it is that rounding I mentioned in terms of trying to understand and spend time with each of our sites of care. But a lot of it is how finance decisions we can make and use finance broadly. That could mean managed care and reimbursement and working with payers. That could mean supply chain and how we deliver product and distribution in addition to just pure finance and treasury. It's really that operator, you know, kind of operator and training, understanding the business. In times we provide education, so we provide the finance. Why do we account for things a certain way? Why do we do revenue cycle a certain way? And then a lot of times we're hearing feedback from the operators and helping translate the business side of that. And so that to me is probably the biggest evolution in the, in the CFO role over the last, call it five to 10 years.

[B]

Yeah, the CFO definitely wears many hats, that's for sure. Final question for you here, Scott, just looking forward, what are some things that you're most excited about right now? BJC health, maybe any partnerships, planned acquisitions. What gets you most excited at the

[A]

system right now for BJC health? Another draw to me was the, the academic and research that we do, quite frankly in both regions, clearly through our partner with Washu at St. Luke's in Kansas City as well. We do significant amount of research. I call that out as, you know, one of the things where I have the most optimism about because I get to spend a little bit of every day hearing the new innovation our teams are looking at, our physicians and our patient care folks are looking at. Whether you say it's things that have come out of genomics and what we've learned as part of that process would whether you say it's things we've learned about how to treat cancer as an example, without maybe all the evasive procedures of the past. Super exciting of how we've, I'll say, learned about the human body over the last five to 10 years. And it, you know, it, it provides a way to think about all those challenges. I started with how they could be solvable. And in many cases, we're talking about cure, not just treating symptoms. And so I think we should all be excited about that.

[B]

Yeah. Well, it sounds like the future of healthcare tech and the future at BJC Health is very bright. So, Scott, I really appreciate you hopping on this podcast with me and again, know it's been a few months, but congrats on the new role and I'm excited to chat with you again sometime soon.

[A]

Yeah, thank you. I look forward to it. And thanks again for having me.