David W. Lester
Libertyville,IL
Summary
Highly organized and self-motivated Executive Healthcare professional adept at elevating and advancing business operations with a strategic approach to decision-making and over 27 years of expertise in foreseeing trends and opportunities, identifying best practices, and formulating strategy while demonstrating exceptional mastery of professional skills. A tech-savvy forward-thinker who anticipates growth and excels in analytical thinking, often exceeding rigid specifications through positive action. Proven success in building solid partnerships and cohesive cross-functional teams. Adept in making crucial decisions and working harmoniously and effectively with other professionals to achieve goals and solve problems. Understands essential administrative programs and exudes the vital concept of "servant leadership"—more than prepared to apply years of progressively responsible experience, leadership, and knowledge to a new role with a growth-oriented organization. Seeking the opportunity to develop and grow alongside Forward Focus Concierge.
Overview
27
27
years of professional experience
Work History
Chief Operations Officer | Senior Training Officer
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
08.2020 - 09.2023
- Hand-picked by the hospital Director and Commanding Officer to fill a critical Executive level Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Milestone Billet, limited to senior officers and those who have demonstrated a successful progression of experience in Executive Medicine and increasing scope of accountability and responsibility.
- Determined strategic direction, which increased critical staff resuscitative medicine certification (CPR, BLS, ACLS, PALS, AED, Code Blue) by 75%, and Personnel Qualification Standard completion by 178%, which surpassed the Bureau of Medicines' National Standard.
- Optimized, tailored, and implemented the New Employee Orientation program, reducing course length by 2.5%, decreasing wasted labor hours by 50%, and enhancing program efficiency exceeding overall mission.
- Oversaw and contributed to developing and implementing a New Supervisor Training program, teaching 500+ DoD and VA leaders. Results accelerated long-term professional development and personal growth, drastically decreasing staff complaints and filed grievances.
- As an astute resource leader, executed a $1B joint fund budget with exceptional stewardship, shaping workforce decisions for 1,000 proposed hiring actions.
- Built strategic relationships with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies
- Streamlined company processes and procedures while enhancing customer satisfaction
Interim Chief Operations Officer | Admin Officer
Everett Clinic (Naval Hospital Bremerton)
11.2017 - 07.2020
- Functioned as Director of a critical gapped Billet managing daily operations of 100 staff across seven departments in charge of delivering care to 5.5K beneficiaries valued at $4.5M in support of 33 Military Tenant Commands and five Naval Fleet Units across four states.
- Diligently managed the final phases of a comprehensive $4M building renovation project, a $93K Central Sterile Storage Room renovation, and two $550K facility modernization projects which drastically improved compliance and surpassed the Patient Safety and Joint Commission standard.
- Skillfully spearheaded improvements to the command's base-wide mission-critical communications capability, improving casualty response time by 50%, and spearheaded an aggressive and highly effective pay and entitlement tracker, increasing command’s personnel completed hazard pay by 98%. Additionally, he led his staff in unit cohesion and morale, contributing to an unprecedented 85% participation rate for the Defense Organizational Climate Survey (DEOCS).
Administrative Director
US Navy Medical Treatment Facility (Trauma Center)
02.2019 - 10.2019
- Aggregated and analyzed data related to administrative costs to prepare budgets for executive-level management and 96 medical personnel.
- Resolved multiple salary issues that caused eight-month delay in pay by developing and implementing aggressive and highly effective income and entitlement tracker. This forward-thinking resulted in 98% pay completion for the unit within forty-five days, fixing critical morale issues in a contingency situation.
- Developed revisions for systems and procedures by evaluating operational practices and identifying improvement opportunities.
- Spearheaded internal communication initiatives to foster timely order completion and deadline management, which improved command's base-wide mission-critical communications capability, improving response time by 50%.
- Identified and resolved operations challenges to promote alignment with business strategy.
- Expertly led hospital's $5.4M facility upgrade, maintenance, and repair projects and oversaw $8.4M in equipment procurement, improving patient care capabilities in support of trauma and surgical mission.
US Navy Lead Medical Recruiter
US Navy Recruiting District Chicago
10.2014 - 10.2017
- Expert networking skills; developed critical relationships with teaching hospitals, medical schools, and various college campus representatives, which directly contributed to the district, earning the Gold "R," the most prestigious award in Navy Recruiting.
- Superb marketing and communication achieved an 85% increase in recruiting activity and program application influx, contributing significantly to the recruiting District's first achievement of Navy Medicine's %100 Medical Officer annual recruiting goal.
- Foresight, forward-thinking, and change management skills led the organization's Medical Recruiting Team to pivot in an unpredictable environment. Galvanized his Recruiting team to achieve 100% of the District's Reserve Medical Service Corps mission for the first time in over six years. Awarded Officer Recruiter of the Quarter for his tireless recruiting efforts and accomplishments as a Medical Programs Manager and Team Lead.
- Awarded "Diversity Recruiter of the Year" for unwavering recruiting and marketing efforts after establishing communication with several multicultural pre-professional affinity groups, directly contributing to the US Navy's %100 Diversity Mission attainment.
Health Care Administrator | Division Officer
Navy Medicine Readiness And Training Command
06.2011 - 09.2014
- Rejuvenated process to generate Logistics "Critical Commodities List" to capture real-time physical count of below-stock level items. This eliminated duplicate purchasing and caused annual cost avoidance of over $800k.
- Overhauled Activity Manpower Document, realigned and coded over 3500 billets, improving staffing accuracy by 30% while filling multiple critical personnel job requirements.
- Led restructuring of policy for Information Resource Management (IT) asset management, accountable for $3k line items worth $5M. This resulted in 40% reduction in loss by inventory reports and 98% increase in overall accuracy rate.
- Expertly designed Critical Response Matrix and implemented Joint Policy Instruction for corresponding Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense functions, significantly reducing process variation and increasing accountability and response time to over 3000 annual tasks and action items.
- Vision, creativity, and forward-thinking, standardized correspondence processing from Navy’s Personnel Support Detachment (PSD) to local in-house managed “one-stop shop,” reducing process time by 85% and improving accuracy of annual updates to Directors by 75% building a bridge between mid-level managers and higher headquarters positively impacting overall morale.
Education
Master of Arts - Master of Health Administration
Governors State University
Park Forest, IL05.2011
Bachelor of Arts - Clinical Psychology
Columbia College
Columbia, MO03.2009
Associate of Arts - General Studies
Columbia College
Columbia, MO03.2007
Skills
- Leadership Skills Team Building
- Professionalism
- Excellent Verbal & Written Communication
- Customer Relationship Management
- Process Improvement
- Ethical Judgment
- Adaptability
- Quality Assurance and Control
- Critical Thinking Problem-Solving
- Efficiency
Affiliations
- The American College of Healthcare Executives
- Oak Grove School District Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
- Project Management Institute (PMI) Chicagoland Chapter
- Navy Medicine Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt)
- Navy Recruiting Orientation Unit-NORU (Professional Development Training for Recruiters)
Professional Awards
- Awarded with the "Lean Six Sigma Certificate of Achievement" in recognition of successful completion of "Green Belt Training."
- Nominated by Chicago Federal Executive Board Leadership for superb leadership for Federal Employee of the Year "Outstanding Team Award" presented by General Colin Powell in recognition of exemplary federal service.
- Awarded the "George T. Smith Leadership Award" in recognition of extraordinary leadership during six weeks (18JUL2011-19AUG2011) of extremely competitive training while attending Officer Development School.
- Presented with "FIVE" Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals for Meritorious Service at every Command/Organization 22AUG2011-2023.
- Presented with "FIVE" Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medals for Professional Achievements from 01AUG2003-01AUG2009.
- Earned the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service as the Chief Operations Officer | Senior Training Officer at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, Great Lakes, IL.
Timeline
Chief Operations Officer | Senior Training Officer
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
08.2020 - 09.2023
Administrative Director
US Navy Medical Treatment Facility (Trauma Center)
02.2019 - 10.2019
Interim Chief Operations Officer | Admin Officer
Everett Clinic (Naval Hospital Bremerton)
11.2017 - 07.2020
US Navy Lead Medical Recruiter
US Navy Recruiting District Chicago
10.2014 - 10.2017
Health Care Administrator | Division Officer
Navy Medicine Readiness And Training Command
06.2011 - 09.2014
Master of Arts - Master of Health Administration
Governors State University
Bachelor of Arts - Clinical Psychology
Columbia College
Associate of Arts - General Studies
Columbia College
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