MD Anderson names Ben Melson new chief financial officer

MD Anderson News Release May 04, 2017

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced that Ben Melson will become the institution’s senior vice president and chief financial officer effective May 15. Melson, who previously served as MD Anderson CFO, returns to the institution after 12 years in a similar role at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“Ben is a highly capable and experienced leader who is ideally suited to help us strengthen MD Anderson in the near term and set the stage for the institution to thrive in the long term,” said Marshall Hicks, M.D., president ad interim of MD Anderson. “In addition to his keen focus on achieving favorable financial results, we look forward to him bringing his strong customer service and patient satisfaction orientation to his daily interactions with the entire MD Anderson community.”

As a member of MD Anderson’s senior leadership team, he will report directly to the president.

Melson previously worked for six years at MD Anderson, most of that time as CFO, before moving to the nation’s largest pediatric health care system, where he oversaw operating revenue growth from $900 million to more than $3 billion over 12 years.

“I’ve been fortunate and blessed to have been the CFO of two world-class institutions in the Texas Medical Center, and it is an honor and privilege to come back to MD Anderson to join this wonderful team again,” said Melson. “I’m extremely optimistic about the future and the trajectory of MD Anderson. We’ll continue to lead the nation in cancer care and cancer research, and will do so in a financially responsible manner as this wonderful institution continues Making Cancer History and serving many future generations.”

During his tenure at Texas Children’s Hospital, Melson oversaw a variety of functions that included financial services, information technology, physician and hospital billing and collections, the HMO health plan, managed care contracting, business planning, supply chain, business development, government relations, the primary care physician group, facilities, security, risk management, the office of general counsel, suburban hospital campuses and the academic partner relationship with Baylor College of Medicine.

Among his accomplishments at Texas Children’s Hospital are: developing and implementing an enterprise risk management tool, aggregating the purchasing efforts of 30 freestanding children’s hospitals across the United States, negotiating more than $700 million in tax-exempt bond and debt transactions, creating and maintaining a strategic financial plan known as the Economic Forecasting Model and directing multiple academic affiliation negotiations with Baylor College of Medicine.

Melson in the past year has served as a member of MD Anderson’s institutional Audit Committee. He similarly has served on the Audit Committee of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, as well as on the board of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. He is a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Prior to first joining MD Anderson, Melson was employed by Hendrick Health System in Abilene, Texas; Condley and Company, LLP, also in Abilene; and Arthur Andersen & Co. in Houston. He is a 1982 graduate of Texas A&M University.