Jennifer DeFrancesco DHA, FACHE

As the Medical Center Director of the Dayton VA Medical Center, Dr. DeFrancesco is responsible for a tertiary care, academic affiliated health care system with 351 beds and a budget exceeding $710 million annually. The health care system serves nearly 46,000 Veterans annually and is comprised of the Dayton VA and four Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Middletown, Lima and Springfield, Ohio plus Richmond, Indiana, and a dual eligibility clinic at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Associate Director of the Dayton VA Medical Center and served as the Interim Medical Center Director of the VA Northern Indiana Health Care System (VANIHCS) in the Summer of 2022. She also serves as the lead for the South-Central Ohio Market (S-COM) of VISN 10 comprising of Dayton, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, and Columbus where she is responsible for the collaborative efforts between the sites which serve over 140,000 Veterans. Dr. DeFrancesco is board certified in health care management and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).  She is a graduate of the VA’s Health Care Leadership Development Program (HCLDP-2015), Executive Career Development Program (ECDP-2017), Leadership Veterans Affairs (LVA-2022) and Senior Executive Service Candidate Program (SESCDP-2024). Dr. DeFrancesco is recognized as a thought leader in health care, business and health technology.  In 2023, she was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as an Emerging Leader for Provider Organizations.  She was named to the Dayton Business Journals 40 Under 40 list in 2018.  In 2016, she was recognized as the Veterans Health Administration’s Certified Mentor of the Year (GS 13-15), Chief Biomedical Engineer of the Year and she also received the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation’s Young Professional Award. She is a military spouse who resides with her husband in Dayton, OH.

CAREER CHRONOLOGY:

• 2024 – Present, Medical Center Director, VAMC, Dayton, OH
• 2023 – 2024, Interim Medical Center Director, VAMC, Dayton, OH
• 2022, Interim Medical Center Director, VANIHCS, Fort Wayne & Marion, IN
• 2020 – 2024, Associate Director, VAMC, Dayton, OH
• 2019 – 2020, Resident Regional Director of Health Technology Services, Compass One Healthcare, Cincinnati, OH
• 2018 – 2019, Associate Director, VAMC, Dayton, OH
• 2017 – 2018, Interim Associate Director, VAMC, Dayton, OH
• 2013 – 2017, Chief Biomedical Engineer & Lead VISN Biomedical Engineer, VAMC, Indianapolis, IN & VISN 10 

EDUCATION:

2016 - Doctorate, Health Administration, Organizational Leadership Concentration, Capella University, Minneapolis, MN

2010 - Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL

2010 - Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL