Highlighted Alumni
Name:
John Forester
Degree:
B.S.B.Ad. in Accounting
Graduation Date:
1991
Company:
HealthSouth MountainView Regional Rehabilitation Hospital
Current Position Title:
Chief Executive Officer
Position Responsibilities:
Oversight and direction of a 96 bed Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital.
How B&E helped me
Graduating from the West Virginia University School of Business and Economics gave me the tools, maturity, and passion to move into the business world. The faculty and curriculum challenged me and prepared me to succeed in my business career. As I built my career in the healthcare industry, I was always pulling from the resources I gathered at the School of Business and Economics - from Cost Accounting and Finance to Marketing and Management curriculum.
Being in the healthcare environment is challenging and ever transforming. I always try to anticipate where healthcare is going and stay on top of the profession. The Health Care MBA Essentials program stimulates forward thinking and provided me with important tools and resources for the healthcare profession.
Furthermore, the academic environment was stimulating and conducive to learning. It has made me strive to be a life long learner. My education at West Virginia University School of Business and Economics gave me versatile bench strength from which I pull to this day.
What has been your most significant accomplishment?
Working in a for-profit healthcare environment has its many challenges. Coming from an accounting background and moving into a hospital leadership position takes a strong education, a willingness to learn and be humble, and a ferocious work ethic. Early in my career I was a Controller for two of our hospitals and I traveled every week to perform many functions at each location - from month-end processing and financial statement preparation/review to cost reporting, patient accounting management, pro forma analyses, quality assurance reporting, and performance management. I gained a great deal of experience and knowledge from my Controller role and I was determined to someday take a greater leadership role in a healthcare organization.
That opportunity came in 1998 and I was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of HealthSouth Huntington Rehabilitation Hospital. I continued to learn more and more about healthcare and people. I constantly used the tools from my education and from my experience to navigate our organization along with the Senior Management Team of our Hospital. Over the course of my CEO career I was given the opportunity to oversee an Ambulatory Surgery Center and in 2002 I was promoted to lead one of our Corporations largest rehabilitation hospitals, HealthSouth MountainView Regional Rehabilitation, in Morgantown, WV. Through all of this I was always learning and always relying on others to move our organizations forward.
So, I would have to say that my most significant accomplishment is coming from a billing clerk at the very beginning of my healthcare career to being the Chief Executive Officer of a hospital. It has taken a lot of work and sacrifice to get to this point, however it has been so rewarding in so many ways. One thing always remains constant in my mind - I could not have achieved this goal without my education from WVU School of Business and Economics and from all of the great people I have worked with over the years.
Advice to Students
Be a good person - be ethical, be fair, be truthful, and be honest. Have balance in your life - work hard and work efficiently, however take time to focus as hard on family, friends, and life in general. Also, be patient - good things come to those who are good people that work hard and have balance in their lives. Finally, be humble and be appreciative.
