On February 28th, new President/CEO Frank Nask of Broward Health handled a gigantic pair of scissors to cut the yellow and blue ribbons on the ExpressAid walk in clinic at the Lauderdale Lakes Wal-Mart. If the ribbons had been red, this public appearance would have been the perfect metaphor to represent Nask’s qualifications to lead Broward Health as cutting red from hospital budgets has been his specialty for the last 35 years.
After years of leading hospitals out of the red, Nask welcomes the opportunity to lead a fiscally fit organization like Broward Health. “I am honored that the Board of Commissioners has confidence in my ability to move forward with the vision and mission of Broward Health,” said Nask.
Nask served as Chief Financial Officer of Broward Health for 14 months prior to his appointment to President/CEO by the Board of Commissioners of the North Broward Hospital District on January 14th. Nask is taking over for Alan Levine who has accepted the position of Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals for the State of Louisiana.
Prior to joining Broward Health, Nask was self employed as an interim CFO and turnaround consultant for a number of hospitals that were financially distressed. “Every year has been difficult managing the financial operations of hospitals, but it has been a very rewarding experience,” said Nask. One of his most rewarding turnarounds was St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York. Nask served part time as the interim CFO for six years. When he came to St. Francis in 2000 they were at a negative three day cash flow and were behind in tax payments. By the time he left the hospital in 2006 they had a 75 day positive cash flow.
Financial management of non-profit hospitals is a constant challenge. Nask explained that it is easy for hospitals to get in trouble and he believes the two key factors for staying out of the red is exercising caution with account receivable conversions and watching labor costs. He also noted the importance of maintaining good medical staff relations and keeping up with medical equipment maintenance as additional factors that ensure financial stability. Nask has seen a change in the trend of hospital fiscal management. “In the 1990’s, hospitals were chasing new revenue streams by building medical malls, now the trend is more about controlling costs. A hospital has more control over costs than revenue.”
Nask has worked as CFO for a number of Florida health providers including Intracoastal Health System (Good Samaritan and St. Marys) in West Palm Beach; Bayonet Point and Oak Hill hospitals, a two-hospital system with one of the largest open heart/cardiac programs in Florida. Prior to his work in Florida, he was CFO of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, a 650-bed teaching hospital; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in Newark. Additionally, Nask was with the HCA Management Company serving as District Controller overseeing 12 managed facilities in the mid-Atlantic region.
Initially named as an interim, Nask was offered and has accepted a one year contract to lead Broward Health as President/CEO. The Board of Commissions recently revised their mission statement to include: “The Vision of Broward Health is to provide world class health care to all we serve.” Nask is excited about helping Broward Health achieve this goal.
Broward Health is one of the five largest public health systems in the nation, offering nationally recognized healthcare services since 1938 through more than 30 facilities of the Community Health Services and Broward Health Physicians Group, including six hospitals.
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