Our December 2019 Employee of the Month

This fall, Boone Hospital employees had the opportunity to wear Kansas City Chiefs gear on weekends when the team had a home game. But they likely didn't know they had Senior Financial Analyst Cynthia Clough to thank for these team spirit weekends. Cynthia had suggested the idea to Human Resources, as well as other team spirit days for the Tigers, Cardinals, Royals and St. Louis Blues. But it's not just sports fans at Boone who rely on Cynthia – the whole organization depends on her every month.

"I coordinate the month-end process to make sure everyone meets their deadlines in order to get the financial statements done for BJC on their deadlines. I'm basically a taskmaster who makes sure the car keeps going down the road each month."

Cynthia grew up in Brookfield, Mo. and received her accounting degree at University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg before starting her career in Kansas City. She had been working at Farmland in Kansas City when a colleague forwarded a fax from Randy Morrow about an open position in Boone Hospital Center's finance department. Cynthia applied and, in January 2003, she joined the Boone team as a financial analyst. She was later promoted to a senior position.

Going from agricultural products to a hospital and learning different processes – particularly back when Boone and BJC used different general ledger systems – was an adjustment, but Cynthia was more than up for the challenge. She says, "I'm one of those people who, if you show me how to do something, I'll learn it."

It also helps that Cynthia works with a strong, cohesive team in the Finance department. She says, "People pitch in and do things that are outside of their job description on a daily basis. We all work together to accomplish goals that need to be met. I try to inject a sense of humor on a daily basis to make things a little lighter. Sometimes, our fast and furious deadlines can get stressful, but we all do the best we can."

Cynthia also helps lighten the mood by organizing holiday or quarterly potlucks on the 7th floor or bringing in a batch of her popular red velvet white chocolate chip cookies. She says, "I find baking therapeutic."

When she's not baking, Cynthia enjoys playing golf and visiting family and friends in Kansas City. She also follows several Missouri sports teams, including the Chiefs, Cardinals, Blues and Tigers, but her favorite NFL team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. She says, "I don't know where that came from, but I've loved the Steelers the longest of any team."

Cynthia is also a big fan of the Boone team. She says, "I like that everybody here is invested in Boone. We have our good days and bad days, but we're one big happy family most of the time."

She was surprised when she learned she was the new Employee of the Month, because she can easily think of other employees she finds worthy of the honor. Cynthia says she holds patient care leaders in high regard because they have to manage the clinical side while also being fiscally responsible and knowledgeable about the financial side of patient care.

Cynthia enjoys being able to help so many people at Boone Hospital Center and likes that they can rely on her. She loves seeing her colleagues when she visits Boone Appétit for a caramel macchiato or vanilla latte.

"I was so happy when they got the espresso machine fixed," she laughs. "That's a big piece of revenue!"

Congratulations, Cynthia!