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Published on February 09, 2017

Tidelands Health names Beth Ward chief financial officer

 

A certified public accountant with more than 30 years of experience in health care finance and a master’s degree in business administration will be the next chief financial officer of Tidelands Health.

Elizabeth “Beth” Ward will join the Tidelands leadership team as executive vice president and CFO March 31. She will succeed Terry Kiser, who is retiring this spring after serving as the organization’s CFO since 1988.

Ward, who is a Virginia native, was selected following a national search process. She is presently employed as CFO of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center University Hospitals and Clinics, a top-rated academic medical center in Dallas known both for its teaching excellence and quality of clinical care.BethWard

In 2016, Ward was named one of “130 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know” by the national publication Becker’s Hospital Review. She was named one of “150 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know” by the publication in 2015.

“Beth is an exemplary leader with a proven record of strong, decisive financial management,” said Bruce Bailey, Tidelands president and CEO. “Throughout her career, she has consistently demonstrated excellence and achieved superior results.

“We are happy to welcome her to Tidelands Health, and we know she will continue to build on the tremendous successes Terry Kiser has achieved throughout his incredible 28-year career with our organization.”

Ward has served as CFO at UTSW Medical Center since 2012. She was previously employed as executive vice president and CFO of Wellmont Health System in Tennessee and, prior to that, chief financial officer and treasurer of Moses Cone Health System in North Carolina. She has also held financial management positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Division of Health Affairs, and the University of North Carolina Hospitals.

“I am extremely gratified by this opportunity and look forward to being part of the Tidelands Health team,” Ward said. “From my first interactions with Bruce, the board of trustees and the entire leadership team, I was impressed by the organization’s clear vision for the future.

“It is vitally important to the people of the Tidelands region that their health system be financially strong, stable and positioned to meet the community’s health and wellness needs for generations to come. I am honored and humbled to serve as a steward of this precious resource.”

Ward is a graduate of Radford University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in business finance and insurance, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned her MBA.

She is a member of Financial Executives International and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and an advanced member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. She has served as a member of the Tennessee Hospital Association board of directors and was named CFO of the Year for Extra Large Organizations in 2009 and Business Woman of the Year in 2007, both by Triad Business Journal.

She and her husband, Carl “Chuck” Ward, have two adult children, Carly and Parker.

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Tidelands Health, in collaboration with MUSC Health, is the region’s largest health care provider, serving the Carolinas at four hospitals and more than 70 outpatient locations. More than 2,500 employee, physician and volunteer partners work side by side with our communities to transform the health of our region – promoting wellness, preventing illness, encouraging recovery and restoring health.