CHOP Leadership’s Innovative Approach to Healthcare
On January 22, 2026, McKonly & Asbury was fortunate to attend the “Lunch with the City’s Leaders” event hosted by the Center City Business Association which features discussions with Philadelphia’s business, civic, political, and cultural leaders. As a healthcare expert, it was particularly exciting to have Madeline Bell, CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as the featured speaker, where she discussed her successes in her career and at CHOP, as well as what the future holds in the healthcare industry for hospitals.
CHOP is one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the United States and was ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ 2022 list of America’s Best Large Employers. Madeline inspires more than 31,000 employees and other workforce members in the hospital’s $5-billion-a-year health system and research institute to create breakthroughs that have worldwide impact.
Career Growth
Madeline attributes much of her career success to her focus on empathy. As a nurse early in her career, she views empathy as a vital trait in leadership. Further, Madeline shared that a critical aspect of her success has been always saying “yes” to opportunities that make her a bit uncomfortable. By doing this, she was able to stretch and grow and not limit her opportunities.
Success at CHOP
She emphasized the health system’s focus on 4 major areas impacting the overall health of children, which include 1) poverty, 2) food insecurity, 3) asthma, and 4) Behavioral Health. CHOP employs lawyers in their primary care practice to provide vital resources to those impacted by poverty. She discussed the focus on food insecurity, sharing CHOP’s innovative method of prescribing healthy food when food insecurity exists. Physicians send families to the “food pharmacy” at CHOP to fulfill their prescriptions and leave with healthy foods for their family. CHOP also started a program to help fight the root cause of asthma health issues in children by renovating approximately 250 homes in the Philadelphia area. She also noted the new children’s behavioral health center, which opened a few years ago, was created to address this ever-increasing need among our youth.
Madeline shared the 3 keys to success that have been vital for CHOP, which include:
- Financial discipline – this includes reducing costs, becoming more lean, and utilizing improved tools.
- Philanthropic support – this is so important as CHOP moves forward. She cited a major gift from the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles to invest in research regarding autism in children.
- Research – this focuses on the unique needs of children and creates a legacy of innovation. This allows children to simply be children and live longer, better lives. CHOP has leveraged its intellectual property to help support financial needs.
Looking Ahead in Healthcare
Hospitals across the country are facing significant financial challenges. Madeline noted that many hospitals are already struggling financially and nearly 40% of hospitals are running at a loss. Hospitals are going to be challenged to keep service costs down and maintain the number of services available. These challenges will require financial discipline, philanthropic support, and innovation moving forward as modeled by CHOP’s success.
McKonly & Asbury focuses on serving our healthcare clients in audit, tax, compliance, consulting, HIPAA compliance, internal audit, and many other areas. We are passionate about healthy communities and the impact that healthcare organizations have on helping our communities thrive. Learn more about our Healthcare practice by visiting our Healthcare industry page or by contacting the Director of our Healthcare practice, Janice Snyder, Partner.
About the Author
Janice is Partner and Director of Assurance Services at McKonly & Asbury. With over 20 years’ experience in public accounting, she spent 11 of those years at an international accounting firm. Janice has specialized in serving… Read more
