Perry Sham, Chief Financial Officer at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center

In this episode of the Becker CFO and Revenue Cycle podcast, Madeline interviews Perry Sham, the newly appointed CFO of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center in New York, who brings over 20 years of healthcare financial consulting experience and a recent CFO role at a Long Island hospital. Sham discusses the dual financial pressures facing hospitals in 2026: rising operational costs driven by inflation, regulatory mandates (including cybersecurity and transparency rules), and labor expenses, coupled with declining revenue due to changes in essential health plans in New York. Despite these headwinds, Sham emphasizes strategic growth through clinical partnerships—such as a heart center collaboration with Catholic Health and Kaleida, and an oncology alliance with Roswell Cancer Center—as key to sustaining financial stability. He underscores the evolving role of the CFO from traditional number-cruncher to enterprise connector and strategic enabler, advocating for grit and perseverance in leadership amid industry turbulence. Sham also reflects on the growing attrition in healthcare CFO roles, attributing it to the job’s complexity and high demands, and stresses the importance of retaining talent through resilience and purpose-driven leadership.