Stephen L. Ferrara MD, FSIR, FACR

Steve Ferrara is a Scottsdale, Arizona native who recently retired from the Navy after a distinguished 25-year career culminating in his role as the Navy’s Chief Medical Officer and Director of Clinical Operations. He helped lead a complex global healthcare delivery system of 63,000 Navy medical department personnel caring for ~9.5 million active-duty, dependents, and retirees around the world with an annual budget of nearly $50B. In this role, he chaired numerous initiatives directly reportable to the Secretary of Defense, Congress, and the President.

Immediately prior to his tenure as the Navy’s Chief Medical Officer, Captain Ferrara spent a year on Capitol Hill as a National Academy of Medicine Congressional Fellow. As an integral staff member to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, his portfolio included FDA, public health, and health reform. Most of his expertise, however, was devoted to formulating the overhaul policy to the costly and inefficient Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) physician payment formula. His efforts directly culminated in the landmark legislative replacement of SGR by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), signed into law on April 16, 2015.

Dr. Ferrara is a UCLA graduate where he first answered the call to public service, joining the Navy at the outset of the first Gulf War. He completed his medical training in the Navy, at UCSD, and at Boston Children’s Hospital. He has been recognized for many clinical and academic achievements including Master Clinician and San Diego Top Doctor. Military awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal, as well as numerous other personal and campaign awards including the Afghanistan Campaign and ISAF Medals.