Salisbury, MD — TidalHealth President & CEO, Steve Leonard, Ph.D., MBA, FACHE, has announced the appointment of Benny J. Stover, MBA, CPA, as the health system’s next Sr. Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective January 5th.
Stover is an accomplished healthcare financial executive with nearly 30 years of leadership experience across complex academic medical centers, multi-facility health systems, and integrated physician enterprises. He becomes just the fourth CFO in TidalHealth’s history.
Stover joins TidalHealth from University of South Alabama (USA) Health, an academic health system, where he has served as CFO since 2020. During his tenure, Stover led major enterprise-wide financial and operational initiatives, including strategic acquisitions, revenue cycle transformations, financial turnarounds, and large-scale capital and construction projects.
“Benny brings a unique blend of financial expertise, operational insight, and strategic leadership that will greatly benefit TidalHealth as we continue to strengthen our services and expand access to care across the region,” said Dr. Leonard. “His experience leading complex health systems and driving meaningful performance improvements will help us continue building a resilient and financially stable organization for the future.”
Over his five years at USA Health, Stover played a key role in the acquisition and successful integration of a $300 million multi-hospital health system. He also served as a member of the health system’s strategic planning team, helping shape long-range initiatives, capital planning, and service-line expansion.
Prior to his role at USA Health, Stover spent more than a decade in executive leadership positions at Mercy Health, where he served as Vice President of Finance and CFO for multiple regional markets spanning Missouri and Arkansas.
Earlier in his career, Stover held CFO and senior financial roles with for-profit and nonprofit health systems.
A Certified Public Accountant, Stover holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from West Virginia University and a Master of Business Administration with a focus in Leadership and Ethics from John Brown University.
