Biography

C. FORREST FAISON, III, M.D., Sc.D. (hon), FAAP
Vice Admiral (ret.), Medical Corps, United States Navy
38th Surgeon General of the United States Navy

Vice Admiral (Dr.) Forrest Faison is a native of Norfolk, Virginia and Cleveland, Ohio, receiving his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University. Faison earned his doctorate in medicine and surgery from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed residency training in pediatrics at Naval Hospital San Diego and fellowship training in neurodevelopmental pediatrics at the University of Washington. Faison served as the 38th Surgeon General of the Navy. As Surgeon General {Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Medical Officer (CMO)}, he was responsible for the global Navy and Marine Corps healthcare system and all medical care to Navy and Marine Corps units, personnel, and other eligible beneficiaries, leading a team of over 67,000 caring for 2.6 million patients in 128 medical centers, hospitals, clinics, and two 1000 bed hospital ships with an annual operating budget of $9.6 billion as well as a $3.0 billion annual global medical research enterprise. He also led a global medical education enterprise of over 140 fully accredited graduate education programs training over 1000 physicians and over 5,000 nurses and medical technicians annually. He is an internationally recognized and published author and speaker on leadership, high reliability healthcare and value-based care, virtual care and medical innovations, social health determinants, and the future of healthcare.

Before his service as Navy Surgeon General, Faison also served as Deputy Surgeon General (Chief Operating Officer) and, before that, as Commander (CEO and CMO), Navy Medicine West where he coordinated the Navy’s medical support and relief operations to the Government of Japan during the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami. As Navy’s Chief of Healthcare Operations, he also led Navy medical relief efforts to the earthquake in Haiti. Among other leadership assignments, he has held command in a combat theater as Commanding Officer, U.S. Expeditionary Medical Facility (OIF combat hospital); and Commander, U.S. Medical Task Force, Kuwait. As Task Force Commander, Faison led a large multi-service task force and was responsible for all combat casualty care and healthcare operations support in Kuwait, Qatar, and Southern Iraq, including all medical logistics operations throughout the middle east. Faison’s other assignments include Director of DoD Telemedicine, leading DoD worldwide telemedicine implementation and use. He also served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the entire Navy and Marine Corps healthcare system. He is a recognized expert on the use of telemedicine, IT, and analytics to improve access, quality, and outcomes.

After his military service, Faison served as the Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation and Chief of Health Strategy (Chief Medical Officer) at Cleveland State University, a large internationally renowned public urban research university and the anchor public university for northern Ohio. Recognizing the importance of diversity in healthcare professions, he developed a new “Pathway to Practice” program to prepare disadvantaged and minority students for healthcare careers. In addition to leading the university’s pandemic response and achieving among the lowest COVID infection rates for U.S. urban universities, he also chaired pandemic response coordination for all Ohio public universities and colleges, one of very few such efforts for higher education in the nation. He was appointed to lead support for the Ohio Federal Mass Vaccination Center, among the largest in the nation and hailed by Federal authorities as the model for emulation. For his leadership, he was awarded the Ohio Commendation Medal. He then served on a team which created and obtained funding for a $565 million partnership between Cleveland State, the State of Ohio, the Cleveland Clinic Health System, University Hospital Health System, MetroHealth hospitals, and Case Western Reserve University for pathogen research and to develop new technologies, disease surveillance systems, treatments, public health and health education programs to improve future pandemic response and outcomes, a first for the state and nation. A trusted advisor to local, state, and Federal authorities, he was frequently consulted for recommendations on pandemic response.

Faison serves as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). He also serves on corporate, academic, and philanthropic boards for healthcare, emerging medical technologies and innovations, community and urban public health, and Wounded Warrior care. He also provides expert consulting advice to several healthcare organizations. He is board certified and a Professor of Pediatrics at NEOMED, an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Distinguished Professor of Military Medicine at the Uniformed Services University, and a senior Adjunct Professor of Healthcare Leadership at Wake Forest University. He has several publications and book chapters on leadership, Wounded Warrior care, telemedicine/health informatics, virtual healthcare, and implementing value-based care. He is a member of the American Association for Physician Leadership, guest lecturer at the Harvard Business School on value-based care, and an advisor to the Wake Forest University Master’s in Healthcare Leadership degree program. He has been a guest or keynote speaker at over 100 national and international meetings, events, and conferences. Faison’s personal military awards include, among others, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (three awards), Legion of Merit (six awards), and the Meritorious Service Medal (three awards). For an innovative partnership with San Diego County to improve chronic illness care services and coordination, he was awarded the California Medical Community’s Lighthouse Award for visionary leadership and innovation, a first for DoD. The Government of Japan also awarded him the Japanese Commendation Medal for his support of Japanese medical education and leadership during the Fukushima response.