Navy honors patient administrative officer at Naval Medical Center San Diego

SAN DIEGO - Navy Medicine West announced on Thursday, Feb. 21 that it honored an officer from Naval Medical Center San Diego as its senior patient administration officer of 2018.

Navy Medicine West honored Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Woody, NMCSD's patient administration department head, as senior officer of the year for improving and streamlining patient administration processes like the NMCSD's burial at sea program. Woody has since transferred to the Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Chicago, the Navy said.

"I am humbled and extremely honored to be selected as the senior patient administration officer of the year,'' Woody said. "Every patient administration officer within Navy Medicine deals with complicated, unique and challenging issues on a daily basis. That dynamic, unpredictable workload is what many of us love most about our mission.''

Navy Medicine West provides medical care to roughly 700,000 people at 10 Naval hospitals, two dental battalions and 51 branch clinics on the west coast as well as in Asia and throughout the Pacific. Navy Medicine West also honored Lt. Kamalan Selvarajah as the junior officer of the year. Selvarajah serves as the department head of patient administration at the Naval hospital in Yokohama, Japan.

"Both Lt. Cmdr. Woody and Lt Selvarajah have performed phenomenally throughout the past year, exhibiting administrative expertise, organizational acumen, and strong leadership skills,'' said Rear Adm. Paul Pearigen, the commander of Navy Medicine West. "They should be very proud of their accomplishments and contributions to Navy Medicine's mission.''