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On Nov. 17, more than 30 individuals from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were recognized at the 7th Annual 2021 FedHealthIT 100 Awards for their contributions to federal health information technology. OIT staff members and leaders, nearly half of VA’s winners, received FedHealthIT 100 Awards for delivering technological innovations that are helping the nation fight the pandemic, developing digital and cloud-based solutions, driving health-IT modernization initiatives, and ultimately, providing quality customer service that empowers Veterans.
FedHealthIT also acknowledged an inaugural group of FedHealthIT Hall of Fame inductees — including ten VA leaders — for their considerable impact within the federal health community and in support of federal health missions.
The VA Virtual Hearing Project Team comprised of Troy Hamilton, Premal Shah, William Dickerson, and Jon McNeil, from the Office of Information and Technology and David Dunphy, Bridget Malone, Sal Ambriz, and John Gosnell from the Board of Veterans Appeals, received FedHealthIT’s first Vision Award for delivering the technology to keep Veterans safe while adjudicating benefits during the pandemic.
During the virtual awards ceremony, Mr. Gfrerer and Mr. Worthington provided keynote remarks, with both leaders thanking executive colleagues and the workforce across VA.
“The importance of our mission challenges us at VA to develop innovative, forward-leaning, solutions that drive exceptional customer service and usher VA — and our customers — into the digital future,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “I join my colleagues in congratulating this exceptional group of trailblazers who received these well-deserved recognitions.
The following employees were inducted into the FedHealthIT Hall of Fame:
- Alan Constantian, Ph.D., senior advisor, Office of Information and Technology
- Aaron Drew, Ph.D., chief engineer and chief architect of the Enterprise Supply Chain Modernization Program
- Neil Evans, chief officer, Office of Connected Care, Veterans Health Administration
- Kevin Galpin, executive director, VHA Telehealth Services, Office of Connected Care, Veterans Health Administration
- Theresa Hancock, director, My HealtheVet, Office of Connected Care
- Joseph Ronzio, DHSc, deputy chief health technology officer, Veterans Health Administration
- John Short, chief technology and integration officer, Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization
- Todd Simpson, deputy assistant secretary, Development, Security and Operations, Office of Information and Technology
- Paul Tibbits, MD, executive director, Office of Technical Integration, Office of Information and Technology
- John H. Windom, executive director, Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization
The following employees were named FedHealthIT 100 winners:
- Gil Alterovitz, Ph.D., director, Artificial Intelligence, Veterans Health Administration
- Kenneth Blount, Technology and Integration Office test and joint release manager, Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization
- Dominic Cussatt, principal deputy chief information officer, principal deputy assistant secretary, Office of Information and Technology
- Jack Galvin, associate deputy assistant secretary, Office of Information and Technology
- James P. Gfrerer, assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer, Office of Information and Technology
- Jeffrey London, executive director, Loan Guaranty Service
- Denise McLain, director, Infrastructure Engineering, Office of Information and Technology
- Daniel Mesimer, director, WAN/LAN Infrastructure, Office of Information and Technology
- David “Drew” Myklegard, executive director, Demand Management, Office of Information and Technology
- Susan Perez, executive director, IT Program Integration, chief of staff, Office of Information and Technology
- Augie Turano, Ph.D., acting director, Data Migration and Data Syndication, Office of Electronic Health Records Modernization
- Charles Worthington, chief technology officer, Office of Information and Technology
- Kaeli Yuen, MD, presidential innovation fellow, Office of Information Technology
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs FedHealthIT 100 Communicators of the Year
- Nicole Shiley Gilbride, strategic and operational communications, outreach coordination, and stakeholder engagement, Development, Security and Operations, Office of Information and Technology
- Alan Greilsamer, director, media relations, Veterans Health Administration
- Reginald Wayne Humphries, director, IT Strategic Communication, Office of Information and Technology
