At Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Executive Vice President and CFO Sophia Holder is entering her fifth year in the role with pediatric growth opportunities on her mind, and a goal of continuing to drive access and innovation across the system.

Ms. Holder told Becker's during a CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast episode that CHOP plans to open its new Morgan Center for Research and Innovation in late 2025. The 350,000-square-foot building will comprise 17 floors and significantly expand the system's laboratory research abilities.

The health system, which operates more than 50 care locations across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, will also open Robert Children's Health, an inpatient complex, in 2028. At 20 stories high, the more than 1 million-square-foot facility will comprise 700 private rooms.

"These investments are more than bricks and mortar," Ms. Holder said. "They are about ensuring we deliver safe, high-quality care in environments built specifically for children, while also creating the infrastructure needed to advance pediatric research."

Along with the two projects, Ms. Holder said CHOP's growth strategy is focused on partnerships, access, data-driven decisionmaking and continued expansion.

"We are looking at collaborative models with community organizations, schools and regional health systems to increase pediatric care access in areas with unmet needs," she said. "We are also investing in digital tools and analytics to better understand patient population trends and to optimize our service footprint accordingly, whether that means it's been an outpatient capacity, enhancing care coordination, providing a better experience for patients and families, or redesigning care pathways for high-complexity patients."

For example, CHOP launched a remote patient management initiative a few years ago that helped reduce neonatal ICU readmissions by 45%. Now, CHOP has 12 remote patient management programs that span from complex chronic conditions like epilepsy to short episodic care, like post-operative management.

"These programs reflect our commitment to meeting patients where they are, whether managing lifelong conditions or supporting critical care transitions, these programs are one of the many examples where CHOP is leveraging technology to deliver more connected, efficient and compassionate care," Ms. Holder said.