The newly emerging healthcare Chief Facilities Officer (CFO) combines business acumen, financial skills, facilities expertise and the ability to build effective internal coalitions with the organization’s key groups and business units, according to an article on the FacilityCare website.

The CFO establishes multi-year facilities capital planning and management programs designed to deliver lower risks, reduced costs and improved customer satisfaction. 

Facility management professionals can evolve into the CFO role by acquiring skills outside the technical arena; building effective working relationships with key groups within the organization; and adopting a proactive, programmatic approach to facilities capital planning and management, the article said.

In many organizations, the CFO is a change agent, guiding the evolution of the facility capital planning and management process to a more proactive, programmatic and data-driven approach.

The CFO can have a significant impact on the organization’s ability to achieve its goals. The programs that he or she puts in place, together with a holistic approach to facilities planning, can deliver reduced risk, lower costs and improved service quality and customer satisfaction. 

Read the article.