Bill Shields appointed as BHB chief financial officer

3 April 2017: Bermuda Hospitals Board today announces that it has appointed Mr Bill Shields as Chief Financial Officer following an extensive local and international recruitment process.

The CFO at BHB is a legislated position in the Bermuda Hospitals Board Act 1970 and, as such, this appointment is approved by the Minister responsible for Health. The CFO is responsible for financial strategy and reporting, and manages the Finance, Admitting, Materials Management, Procurement and IT Directorates. The position reports to the Chief Executive Officer and the Board.

Chief Executive Officer Mrs Venetta Symonds comments: “I’m very pleased to welcome Mr Shields to BHB as Chief Financial Officer. As our recent budget debate highlighted, BHB is facing major challenges as Bermuda works to control healthcare costs and improve its financial position. A key focus for the coming fiscal year will be developing a clinical services plan that will help us make critical decisions about services going forward. BHB needs a financial executive who understands hospital finances and how they connect to the health system, and has experience in optimizing financial and operational performance to support clinical quality on the front line of patient care. Mr Shields comes with an impressive record within the NHS and we look forward to him bringing this expertise and experience to the team.”

Coming from the UK, Mr Shields joins BHB after over a year working as Executive Director of EY, a health advisory practice that focuses on performance improvement and optimization. In this role he worked with numerous NHS hospitals to transform and improve financial and operational performance. Prior to this position, he worked in the NHS for almost 29 years, most recently with the Imperial College NHS Trust, where he led a recovery of the Trust’s financial and operational performance where he held subsequent positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive.

Mr Shields comments: “I am looking forward to working with the team at BHB. They have worked very hard over the last few years to improve their financial stability, and I know that together we will be able address the current challenges to support BHB’s stated triple aim goals of improving the patient experience, improving population health and reducing the per capita cost of care.”

Having gained his professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, Mr Shields also has an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Glasgow. He has won numerous awards, including the HFMA Finance Director of the Year, 2013, HFMA Governance Award, 2013, and Health Service Journal Finance Team of the Year 2013.

Archives