CDR SCOTT E. FOSTER, FACHE, ELECTED TO AMERICAN COLLEGE OF HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES BOARD OF GOVERNORS

CHICAGO, March 15, 2003—CDR Scott E. Foster, MSC, USN, FACHE, director of Resources and chief financial officer, Naval Medical Center San Diego, has been elected to serve on the Board of Governors of the American College of Healthcare Executives, an international professional society of nearly 30,000 healthcare executives.

Foster took office today at the Council of Regents meeting during ACHE's 46th Congress on Healthcare Management at the Hilton Chicago. He will serve a one-year term representing ACHE affiliates on ACHE's Board of Governors, the authority that oversees ACHE operations and member services.

Foster has been director of Resources and chief financial officer for the Naval Medical Center San Diego since 2001. Prior to that, he was head, Medical Resources Programming, Chief of Naval Operations, from 1998 to 2001, and Secretary of Defense Fellow in Healthcare Economics from 1997 to 1998. Foster has served in positions of increasing authority in the armed forces since beginning his career as an Army reconnaissance squad leader in Panama in 1977. He has held positions as health services officer and department head, Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories; head of the financial programs section, Medical Resources, Plans, and Policy Division, Chief of Naval Operations; financial systems analyst, U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, DC; comptroller and director, Resources Management, Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan; and administrative officer, Branch Clinic Moffett Field, CA.

Prior to being elected an ACHE Governor, Foster served as the ACHE Regent for the Navy - Pacific Region from 1996 to 2000. He has been awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal-2, Navy Commendation Medal-3, and the Navy Achievement Medal-2.

Board certified in healthcare management and an ACHE Fellow, Foster received his master's degree in healthcare administration from Washington University, St. Louis, and his master's degree in information systems management from the Naval Postgraduate School. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Reed College in Portland, OR.

CONTACT: Deborah A. Labb, (312) 424-9426

###