Ashland University MBA graduate named CFO at Wooster Community Hospital

Jason Rohr really liked Ashland University’s flexibility and the opportunity to specialize his studies in some specific classes when he was looking for an MBA program.

“Some programs had the full curriculum laid out for you without any deviation from the first class to the last class,” said Rohr, who earned his MBA from AU in 2019. “The flexibility of the program was really why I chose Ashland when I looked at MBA programs.”

With the help of his MBA, Rohr recently became the new chief financial officer (CFO) for Wooster Community Hospital (WCH) Health System. He started his new job June 20.

“The job has been amazing, I feel like I have hit the ground running thanks to the leadership team and the support I have been given across the whole organization,” Rohr said in early August. “It’s a very unique ‘family’ culture that prides itself on doing great work and providing high-quality care to the community and keeping services local for our residents.”

While an MBA was one requirement for his most recent job, Rohr said that wasn’t the reason he decided to earn it.

Seeing some of his mentors at his previous jobs with Pomerene Hospital in Millersburg and Aultman Health Foundation and AultCare, both in Canton, pursue MBAs convinced him that it would not only benefit his career but also his individual growth.

“My MBA has fostered a learning principle in my interactions that every day I can learn something, no matter how small or large that something is,” Rohr said. “The MBA allowed me to continue to grow and mature as a person while developing me into the leader that I am today.”

That growth and maturity has seen Rohr’s career goals evolve, particularly his goal to eventually become a certified public accountant (CPA) to eventually turning his goals into pursuing an MBA.

“From the classes I have taken, I have actually thought about going for the certified management accountant certification instead of the CPA,” said Rohr, who developed his interest in certified management accounting from a couple of classes he took on the specific subject matter – some of those specialized courses he was so happy AU offered.

Because he was driving two hours roundtrip from his home in Massillon for those specialized in-person courses, Rohr said he was appreciative of the professor who recognized this invested time and allowing him greater flexibility by eventually joining the classes by Zoom.

Many of Rohr’s classes were online, though, which he appreciated.

“Some professors had lessons recorded and you could watch anytime that fit your schedule,” Rohr said. “I was able to attend family gatherings, go to work during the day and still get my work done (for AU).

“The professors were very accommodating,” he added. “Not that they weren’t demanding, but they were accommodating enough that you knew what you had to get done and they gave you the time to get it done by planning your work out for the week.”

That flexibility helped Rohr even change jobs while working on his MBA with no trouble, going from Aultman to Pomerene to be on its leadership team as the finance manager and then finance controller, as well as move from Massillon to Wooster to be closer to his job at Pomerene in Millersburg.

Rohr has lived in Wooster for 4½ years with his wife, Monica, and their four daughters, ranging in age from 8 to 17 years old, who are all active in school activities and sports at Triway Local Schools.

His career in finance for health care businesses started the last half of his senior year at Perry High School in Massillon, working as a part-time payroll clerk for Aultman.

Working and going to school continued for Rohr as he earned an associate degree from Stark State and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Akron, both in accounting, while moving up from payroll to accounts payable to billing at Aultman and AultCare, where he became a financial analyst after finishing his undergrad schooling.   

“When I was working and going to school, the things I learned in school I could apply to my work,” Rohr said. “The same thing applied with my MBA program at Ashland.”

He’s looking forward to applying what he learned at Ashland University as the CFO of Wooster Community Hospital Health System and continuing to grow his career in health care.

“I have really enjoyed health care, giving back and taking care of people that live within the community and beyond,” Rohr said. “I believe as a leader, you should have a servant mentality. That has developed through maturity and learning.”

He said he appreciates all that Ashland offered and would highly recommend the MBA program for anyone wanting to enhance their career and invest in their personal knowledge.