Dean Swindle Named Top Financial Officer at Catholic Health Initiatives

Dean Swindle, a finance and operations executive with more than two decades of experience in nonprofit health care, has accepted the position of Catholic Health Initiatives’ executive vice president, business services and chief financial officer.

Swindle will help lead the overall strategic and business planning effort at Denver-based CHI, the nation’s second-largest Catholic health system, with 72 hospitals in 18 states and annual revenues of approximately $8.6 billion. He will join CHI on May 17.

“I’m pleased to have an executive with Dean’s talent, background and experience join CHI,” said Kevin Lofton, CHI’s president and chief executive officer. “He possesses the expertise and business acumen to help CHI meet all of its most important strategic objectives, including the organization’s focus on continued improvement of business processes, revenue-cycle management and overall financial performance.”

Dean is currently with Novant Health System, Winston Salem, N.C., which operates 12 hospitals, 350 physician clinics and 130 ambulatory sites over a four-state region. He has been the system’s chief financial officer for more than 10 years, and, in 2008, assumed operating and strategic responsibilities for ambulatory services and new markets throughout the Novant Health System, which also includes approximately 100 outpatient diagnostic imaging centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation and community outreach programs, and philanthropic foundations

"I'm looking forward to joining a fine organization with a wonderful mission -- creating healthier communities,” said Swindle, 49. “Personally and professionally, this is a great opportunity to help CHI move to an even higher level of quality and service."

Swindle has been with Novant since 1998, when he was hired as senior vice president of finance. In his more than 11 years in executive management at Novant, the system has grown from $800 million to $3.5 billion in annual revenues, evolving into an industry leader in quality indicators and ambulatory care. He implemented an ambulatory model that has forged new relationships with physicians in nearly a dozen new markets. Novant has more than doubled the size of its physician network over a five-year period.

Prior to his appointment to a senior position at Novant, Dean served as chief executive officer of Concord Medical Center, Baton Rouge, La.; and as vice president, financial services, at General Health System in Baton Rouge. He began his career with KPMG LLP in Jackson, Miss.

Dean graduated from Millsaps College, Jackson, Miss., with a bachelor’s in business administration/accounting, and earned a master’s in business administration from Duke University Fuqua School of Business in Durham, N.C. He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

About Catholic Health Initiatives: CHI is a national nonprofit health organization with headquarters in Denver. The faith-based system operates in 18 states and includes 72 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; and two community health-services organizations. Together, those facilities provided $553 million during the 2009 fiscal year in charity care and community benefit, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. With annual revenues of $8.6 billion, CHI ranks as the nation’s second-largest Catholic health care system.