The Defense Health Agency recognized chief information officers at military hospitals and clinics at the 2025 Defense Health Information Technology Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 25.
After the opening plenary session, Pat Flanders, program executive officer – medical systems/chief information officer, and Thomas Hines, chief information security officer, presented the DHA IT awards to CIOs for their assistance in supporting DHA’s strategic objectives.
Flanders established the awards to honor offices or personnel who excel in three categories in support of DHA’s Program Management Office-Medical Systems.
“This year’s Military Medical Treatment Facility and Clinic Chief Information Officer Award winners showcase the remarkable talent of our Defense Health Agency IT professionals, and I really appreciate their efforts in helping bolster my strategic priorities,” said Flanders.
Three DHA teams received awards for their work in auditability compliance, cybersecurity, and rationalization/alignment of resources in military hospital and clinics.
Cybersecurity
Air Force Master Sgt. Jonathan Rodriguez-Feliciano, deputy chief information officer at the 374th Medical Group at Yokota Air Base in Japan, accepted the award for cybersecurity. This award is presented to the site that excels in all aspects of cybersecurity, which includes doing the best job managing their authorizations to operate and their overall cyber hygiene.
Our team took a proactive, “all-hands” approach to strengthening our cyber posture, explained Rodriguez-Feliciano. “We partnered with higher headquarters and subject matter experts to execute thousands of security checklist items across every system and clinic. That meant reviewing policies, hardening networks, training staff, and validating compliance line by line. With leadership involvement and full support from our staff, we turned our inspection into an opportunity to elevate how we operate every day.”
Auditability compliance
The audibility compliance award was presented to the site that complies best with monthly reporting requirements as laid out in a DHA procedural instruction on information security compliance. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ezekiel Gandy accepted the award on behalf of the 8th Medical Group, Kunsan Air Base in South Korea.
The award recognized the medical group’s support of financial auditability as it ensures transparency, accountability, and proper stewardship of taxpayer money, and is in alignment with a key DHA procedural instruction This instruction requires CIOs to certify compliance with the various system reporting, and the Kunsan Air Base team met monthly requirements without fail.
Rationalization / alignment of resources
The Rationalization / Alignment of Resources Award recognizes the chief information office that excelled in submitting monthly reports in Ektropy, a DHA system that helps leader visualize the management of IT resources, personnel, and costs. The award was presented to the Lyster Army Health Clinic at Fort Rucker in Alabama. The award was accepted by Kelly McCreery, deputy chief information officer.
The Lyster Army Health Clinic team demonstrated diligence in adopting Ektropy, and having a perfect record for submitting their ongoing CIO certification.
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2025 09:35 |
| Story ID: | 548263 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 58 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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