What surprised me was how closely accounting connects to strategy and patient care. I expected to learn about budgets and financial statements, but I came away with a better appreciation for how financial data can support better decisions.”
Melissa Waggott, Healthcare Accounting student
Melissa Waggott is Director of Surgical Programs and Perioperative Services at a large community hospital in Ontario, where she brings together patient care, staffing, capacity and funding to support busy clinical services. She took Healthcare Accounting to strengthen her understanding of financial decision-making and gain practical tools she could apply to her work.
What led you to seek out Healthcare Accounting?
I sought out this program because I wanted to strengthen my understanding of health care accounting and financial decision-making. As a clinical leader, I am often involved in conversations about budgets, case costing, funding models, capital requests, and service planning. I wanted to be more confident interpreting financial information and connecting it back to operational decisions and patient care priorities.
What were you hoping to gain from the program?
I was hoping to gain a more practical understanding of how financial information is structured and used in health care. I wanted tools that would help me ask better questions, understand the drivers behind costs and funding, and feel more prepared when working with finance colleagues on business cases, operational planning and resource decisions.
What was a highlight for you from the program?
A highlight for me was how practical the program was and how easily the structure and format fit into my busy professional and personal life. The concepts were not presented as abstract accounting theory — they were connected to real health care decisions and the kinds of trade-offs leaders make every day. I appreciated being able to take the learning and immediately see how it applied to my own work in surgical services.
How did the instructor or your classmates support your learning in the programs?
The instructors supported learning by making the material accessible and relevant, especially for those of us who come from a clinical rather than finance background. I also appreciated hearing from classmates who were working in different parts of the health system across the country. Their questions and examples helped broaden my perspective and made the learning feel very applicable.
What surprised you about the program?
What surprised me was how closely accounting connects to strategy and patient care. I expected to learn about budgets and financial statements, but I came away with a better appreciation for how financial data can support better decisions, help explain operational pressures, and strengthen the case for change when services need investment or redesign.
Were there any lessons or techniques from the programs that you found particularly helpful?
I found the focus on cost drivers, variance analysis, and understanding the story behind the numbers particularly helpful. Those techniques are useful because they move the conversation beyond whether a budget is over or under and toward understanding why that is happening, what is within our control, and what decisions may be needed.
How are you applying the skills you learned in your personal or professional life?
Professionally, I am applying the learning by being more intentional in how I review financial information and prepare for discussions about surgical volumes, staffing, case costing, capital planning, and new initiatives. It has helped me feel more confident partnering with finance and decision support teams, and it has reinforced the importance of linking financial decisions back to access, quality, safety, and patient outcomes.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I would recommend this program to health care leaders, managers, and clinicians who are increasingly involved in operational or strategic decision-making. It would be especially helpful for anyone who wants to better understand budgets, funding, and the financial language of health care while still keeping patient care at the center of the conversation.