Naval Medical Forces Pacific drives innovation and readiness in improvement project competition
NMFP announced the results in June, highlighting innovative approaches aimed at directly improving support to warfighters and maintaining a ready medical force. The competition emphasizes a commitment to the Navy’s “Get Real, Get Better” mindset. Teams across the region identified friction points, worked through rigorous analytical processes to develop solutions, implemented those fixes, and evaluated their impact over time.
“Our ‘Get Real, Get Better’ approach is delivering real results this year,” said Christian Crifasi, director of improvement sciences for NMFP. “Our teams are using data-driven insights to break down barriers to readiness, proving that a commitment to continuous improvement directly strengthens our ability to support the warfighter whenever and wherever they need us.”
NMFP received a record 53 submissions, the most in five years. The projects were scored based on alignment with strategic goals, clarity of the problem, multidisciplinary teamwork, data relevance and overall impact.
Capt. Christopher Phillips, chief medical officer for NMFP, emphasized the hard work behind the submissions.
“The CPI competition is an opportunity for commands to highlight teams that have taken the ‘Get Real, Get Better’ mindset seriously,” Phillips said. “These projects not only improve care and efficiency where they are implemented but can be shared across the enterprise.”
The competition categories reflected different methodologies for solving problems.
In the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control category, Lt. Cmdr. Skylar Williams of Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Okinawa took first place for reducing waste in optical fabrication. Between December 2023 and June 2024, the optometry clinic had hundreds of pairs of glasses sit undelivered. This reduced vision readiness for active-duty members and wasted tens of thousands of dollars monthly. By changing the process to ship glasses directly to a patient's workplace post office box, the clinic reduced delivery failures by about 93 percent.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Kayley Holler of Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Unit Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego earned the runner-up spot in the same category for improving the recruit processing division at MCRD San Diego. By creating a standardized qualification standard for medical staff, the team reduced vaccination and medication errors for Marine recruits down to near zero, safeguarding recruit safety during critical training periods.
In the Rapid Improvement Event category, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Darren Calica from NMRTC Okinawa won by tackling inefficiencies in the immunization clinic. Inventory checks and order fulfillments were taking up to several hours, risking the clinic's multi-million vaccine supply and exposing staff to cold temperatures too long. Using organizational methodologies, the team cut inventory time to 28 minutes, achieved about 99 percent accuracy rate, and decreased staff cold exposure to just a few minutes.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Alejandro Sapiens from Navy Expeditionary Medicine Warfighter Development Command took runner-up by reorganizing a warehouse. His efforts reduced expired stock from hundreds of items to just a handful and cut supply retrieval time down to less than a minute per item.
For the Other Process Improvement category, Lt. Xiomara Martinez of NMRTC San Diego won for optimizing Periodic Health Assessment access. During a major operational demand, she implemented a standardized process that boosted readiness performance from 20 percent to 95 percent between October and December 2025.
Lt. Viktoriya Baraya, also from NMRTC San Diego, was the runner-up for creating a skills fair template that trained hundreds of personnel at geographically separated branch clinics, directly addressing patient safety gaps.
In the Define-Measure-Analyze-Design-Verify category, Cmdr. Andrew Veileux from NMFP Headquarters won for developing a unified tool to track required training, eliminating manual spreadsheet errors and saving countless labor hours. Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Morgan Sheffield took runner-up by establishing standard operating procedures for dental in-processing at NMRTU MCRD San Diego, increasing clinical efficiency for incoming recruits.
Each of these projects proves that when medical professionals are empowered to identify issues and design solutions, the warfighters benefit. Through rigorous evaluation and shared successes, NMFP continues to build a stronger, more efficient, and fully prepared medical force.
NMFP provides oversight for 10 Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Commands (NMRTC) on the West Coast and Pacific Rim that train, man and equip medical forces, primarily in military treatment facilities. Globally, NMFP oversees eight research laboratories that deliver research expertise in support of warfighter health and readiness. Additionally, NMFP manages the Naval Expeditionary Medicine Warfighter Development Center (NEMWDC), which plays a critical role in preparing medical teams for expeditionary and operational environments.
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