Ireland Degges
Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce that Defense Health Agency Director Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland has been named to the 2024 Wash100 class for spearheading technological change and cultivating a collaborative innovation ecosystem.
You have the opportunity to choose your favorite 2024 Wash100 winners in the annual popular vote contest! To cast a vote for Crosland, visit Wash100.com.
The prestigious Wash100 Award is annually given to the government contracting industry’s most influential executives. Individuals added to each Wash100 class are exemplary leaders with strong legacies and immense potential to continue shaping the GovCon field.
Crosland’s 2024 win is her second consecutive entry into the elite ranks of Wash100. Last year, she was chosen for laying out a strong technology-focused vision for the Military Health System, and her forward-thinking approach guided the MHS’ transformation throughout 2023.
“Lt. Gen. Crosland is a bold leader whose approach to her role is built on a foundation of action. As the fourth director of DHA, she is steering the agency out of a decade-long transitional period and into an accelerated era of executing on its strategic plan to modernize and stabilize the country’s military healthcare system. We look forward to seeing Lt. Gen. Crosland’s parabolic impact and the impact of her work to build a patient-centered, digital-first healthcare system,” said Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award.
Crosland assumed her current role just over a year ago, making history as the first African American to step into the position. During her welcoming ceremony, Crosland declared her vision for the DHA, which is to “care for the joint force and those we are privileged to serve – anytime, anywhere – always.”
Since taking the helm of the organization, Crosland has worked tirelessly to drive the agency’s modernization efforts forward. Her approach is one that looks ahead, and she understands that the DHA needs “to think more broadly and more boldly about what is possible.”
“Not in a 10-year, over-the-horizon way. But today—what can we achieve in 2023 … no other health enterprise in the world has as much at stake as the MHS in a digital transformation to prepare for our future challenges,” she added.
In August, the DHA released a strategic plan for fiscal years 2023 to 2028, which includes three main priorities: enabling combat support to the joint force in competition, crisis or conflict; building a modernized, integrated and resilient health care delivery system; and empowering dedicated and inspired teams of professionals driving military health’s next evolution.
To achieve the goals presented in the strategy, Crosland said the DHA “must identify and leverage transformative technologies, expand partnerships and adopt new models of health and wellness.”
Another element of Crosland’s push for modernization is the DHA’s Organizational Advancement plan, which was launched in October.
“The Military Health System is changing … changing how we organize to counter threats that surround us, how we deliver care on the battlefield or at home, and how we leverage the tools and technologies of this digital age to better service our patients,” Crosland said of the strategy.
Through this plan, the DHA will consolidate 20 direct reporting medical markets into nine Defense Health Networks, which will oversee specific hospitals and clinics across the entire MHS.
Crosland sees modernization as a collaborative journey. At the 2023 AMSUS Annual Meeting last February, she made it clear that the Military Health System is not a separate entity from the broader U.S. healthcare system, but a part of it.
“Our future is dependent on understanding that system. Partnering where it makes sense. Building and sustaining our own capacity where we must,” she emphasized.
Crosland has continuously advocated for partnership development. During the Digital Health Transformation Summit in December, she called for “more partnerships in more places with other federal and civilian health systems–where our teams go to keep their clinical skills up.”
“We need more partnerships with industry to use technology wisely so that our inclination is to think ‘virtual first,’” she said.
Interagency partnerships are also part of Crosland’s approach. Under her leadership, the DHA collaborated with the Veterans Health Administration to consider new ways in which the organizations could improve patient care.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Crosland on her second Wash100 win and is excited to see the fruits of her efforts continue to unfold. Don’t forget to vote for her at Wash100.com.
