Healthcare Leadership News
Why healthcare finance needs more collaboration — and less ego
Drawing on a career shaped by teamwork and turnaround leadership, HFMA’s new chair reflects on the power of working together to address healthcare’s toughest financial challenges.
Published
5 hours ago
When Matt Cox, FHFMA, CPA, talks about the future of healthcare finance, he rarely talks about himself. The new HFMA chair consistently redirects the conversation to teams, partnerships and shared solutions — an approach shaped by a career spent leading hospital turnarounds across the country.
Today, Cox is executive vice president and CFO for Corewell Health, which comprises 21 hospitals and 300+ ambulatory and outpatient locations and serves 1.4+ million health plan members across Michigan.
As the industry faces accelerating change, Cox is focused on expanding collaboration, strengthening the HFMA community and helping finance leaders look beyond traditional boundaries for answers. He shared his perspectives in the following conversation with hfm.
Q Tell us a little about your background.
Matt Cox: I was born in Texas but grew up in Idaho, where my dad bought a dairy farm when I was 5 years old. I’m one of nine children — seven sisters and one brother — so teamwork was just part of daily life. That experience shaped how I think about leadership and teams. On a farm and in a big family, everyone has a role, and you succeed or fail together.
I went on to attend Westminster University in Salt Lake City, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in accounting and my MBA. My first job was with Deloitte in Boise, Idaho. From there, I moved to the provider side to become controller for one of my hospital clients, Magic Valley Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho, which is where I really discovered my passion for healthcare.
My career has given me the opportunity to serve in a number of markets and in several turnaround situations. I worked with Catholic Health Initiatives at Holy Rosary Medical Center along the Oregon-Idaho border and was fortunate to be mentored by system CFO Colleen Blye, who pushed me to take on larger leadership roles. That led to an opportunity in Arkansas with St. Vincent Health System, where I supported the turnaround of five hospitals, and later to leadership roles at Central Maine Healthcare and Dignity Health as well as Banner Health in Arizona.
For the past eight years, I’ve been in Michigan as executive vice president and CFO of Corewell Health. It’s been incredibly rewarding to be part of an integrated system where you can see the full picture of healthcare — care delivery, financing care and the patient experience — and work to align all those pieces.
HFMA has been a constant throughout the journey. I’m a member of the HFMA Great Lakes Chapter, and I’m proud that so many Corewell team members are actively involved. This past year, three of the Chapter’s officers came from our organization, which says a lot about our culture of engagement.
On a personal note, my wife and I have been married for 30 years and have raised three children. Our oldest is a fifth-grade teacher in a Spanish immersion program. Our middle daughter followed the accounting path and is at Deloitte as a CPA, and our son is finishing his master’s at Michigan State and will be joining PwC as a CPA as well. We’re also new grandparents, which is our favorite role yet.
Q In planning discussions for your year as HFMA Chair, you said you wanted to bring more voices to your Chair columns in hfm, which feels consistent with a team-first mindset. Do you think a team-oriented management style is useful for today’s leaders?
Cox: Yes. It’s important to look beyond ourselves. Healthcare has never been more complex or more interconnected than it is today. No single organization and certainly no single leader has all the answers.
Early in my career, paper charts were still the foundation for billing and accounting. Since then, we’ve moved to fully electronic records with an incredible amount of data, and we’re still only scratching the surface of what we can do with it. Now, we’re entering an era in which AI and advanced analytics will require us to rethink our processes, workforce skills and the speed with which we can adapt to change. It’s a whole other level of change.
To keep up with that rapid pace, we have to learn from each other. We need to look at what’s happening across markets, care settings and even outside traditional healthcare. That’s where HFMA is so valuable. When you’re connected to a strong network of peers and have access to timely, relevant information, you can move much faster and make better decisions.
For me, leadership is about creating space for those conversations and making sure more people are part of them.
“Matt and I have worked together for almost nine years. He is a very strong financial leader. But what I love most about him is his innovative thinking. He is always astounding me with new ideas and suggestions to make our services and experience better. His willingness to engage, imagine and explore possibilities will make Matt a fantastic Chair. He will push HFMA to deliver even more value to its members and be part of innovative solutions for the sustainability of healthcare in our country.”
Q What do you see as the biggest challenge facing healthcare finance leaders right now?
COX: From my perspective, the central challenge is affordability.
As CFOs and others on the business side of healthcare, we’re balancing the need to invest in the latest technology, maintain a highly skilled workforce and deliver high-quality care while staying within the constraints of what patients, employers and government programs are willing to pay.
In an integrated delivery system like Corewell Health, you see both sides. You understand the cost and operational pressures providers face, but you also see the limitations within insurance and the broader financing structure. That dual perspective forces you to think differently. It’s not just about optimizing operations; it’s about long-term sustainability for the entire system.
We’re at a time when care deserts in some areas of the country are a very real threat. Patients and employers are struggling with the high costs of care. Payers aren’t seeing health outcomes aligned with healthcare spending. We need to redesign care and payment models to improve value for everyone. The current systems are failing us.
“Matt is an excellent choice to lead HFMA as Chair. As a peer, Matt is a national CFO with real thought leadership and innovation. He is always challenging the status quo in a good way. He pushes all of us to think differently and, equally important, to make a difference. He’s a leader we can all look up to and support.”
Q HFMA’s Vitalic Health initiative focuses on bringing together providers, payers and technology leaders to address healthcare sustainability and value. Efforts to date have included solve-based convening and swarm studies. What excites you most about these efforts?
COX: What excites me most is the opportunity to collaborate in ways we typically don’t.
Historically, finance leaders in provider settings have operated in a bit of a bubble. We’ve been very focused on our own organizations and haven’t always engaged deeply enough with the innovators challenging traditional models.
But there’s a lot we can learn from them.
We’re operating in an exciting time. New players are emerging across many areas. We’re witnessing new insurance approaches, direct-to-employer models, rapid growth in ambulatory and virtual care and an explosion of AI-enabled solutions. At the same time, we’re seeing breakthrough therapies that are clinically extraordinary, albeit financially challenging. Disruptive innovation is all around us.
Vitalic Health creates a space where people with different perspectives can come together to work on shared problems in healthcare. Because it is powered by HFMA, it gives finance leaders a direct line into these conversations.
Success for HFMA’s members will depend on expanding the depth and breadth of connections with industry innovators and turning these collaborations into practical insights and models that can foster change.
“Matt’s commitment to investing in people and developing talent is truly remarkable. He actively cultivates an environment of continuous learning, growth and professional development, empowering those around him to reach their full potential. In fact, Matt launched an innovative CFO division mentoring program at Corewell Health, dedicating significant effort to match mentees with committed mentors, which led to career-changing promotional opportunities for many.”
Q You’ve been involved with HFMA for more than 20 years. What has this community meant to you, personally and professionally?
COX: The relationships have been invaluable.
At every stage of my career, HFMA has given me a network of people I can call to ask for advice, share ideas or talk through a challenge. Some of those connections go back decades and span multiple states where I’ve worked.
What makes HFMA unique is the level of trust it has built throughout healthcare. In many industries, people guard information because they see each other strictly as competitors. In healthcare finance, we recognize that we’re all trying to solve the same fundamental problems.
One of my friends in the industry, Robin Damschroder [president, value-based enterprise, and CFO of Henry Ford Health], works in the same market I do. In some ways, we’re competitors in Michigan, but we also serve together on the HFMA national board. We share ideas when appropriate, and we are aligned on the greater purpose of advancing healthcare delivery. Sometimes, we even go to a Detroit Lions game together. That sense of community makes us all stronger.
For members, being involved with HFMA means you’re never facing today’s challenges alone. You have access to a group of people who are willing to share what’s working and what isn’t, so we can move the industry forward together.
“Matt holds his leaders and team members accountable and always strives for excellence. That shows up in a lot of ways. And as a team member, I’ve most appreciated how he shows support in rooms where I may not be present. He is a sponsor in every sense of the word and genuinely wants others to succeed.”
Q As you look ahead to your year as HFMA Chair, what do you hope members will experience, or what do you hope will change?
COX: I hope members feel even more connected to one another and to the wave of ideas shaping the future of healthcare.
If we can help finance leaders move faster, make more informed decisions and feel supported by a strong professional community, that’s success.
This is a time when we need to think bigger than our individual organizations. The challenges we’re facing — affordability, workforce transformation, digital innovation — are too complex for any of us to solve on our own.
HFMA has always been a place where people come together to share knowledge and develop professionally. My hope as Chair is to work with HFMA to build on that foundation and make sure we’re also a catalyst for the collaboration and innovation the industry needs right now.
Fast facts about Matt Cox
1 First job you ever had: “I grew up in Idaho on a dairy farm, and my first job on the farm was feeding calves. As I got older, I was promoted to milking cows.”
2 Motivation on the toughest days: “I love working in healthcare. When I’m having a hard day, I think about the positive impact I’ve been able to make for our patients.”
3 A small daily moment you look forward to: “My daughter sends me pictures of my granddaughter, Lindy, daily, and it always makes me smile.”
4 Favorite way to unwind outside of work: “My wife and I love to go for rides in our convertible in the countryside.
5 “Default” comfort meal: “I must have tacos once a week!”
