John E. Armstrong

John Armstrong is an accomplished health care executive with 35 years experience in health care financial operations management. Currently, he serves as the corporate senior vice president of supply chain management, and facilities design and construction of Scripps Health, overseeing real estate and biomedical departments.

Scripps Health is a nonprofit, integrated health care system in San Diego, Calif., with five acute-care hospital campuses, home health care services and an ambulatory care network of physician offices and 23 outpatient centers and clinics.

As a member of Scripps Health’s executive cabinet, Armstrong is responsible for overseeing the execution of the organization’s $1.475 billion capital plan for fiscal years 2010-2014. The plan includes infrastructure upgrades and expansion projects at Scripps’ hospitals, as well as costs for new facilities. Construction and expansion include build-outs or expansion of emergency departments on two campuses, a critical care building, a multi-story cardiovascular institute, and all related parking structures, seismic and information technology upgrades.

Armstrong also oversees existing Scripps Health real estate properties, including leasing, buying and selling of medical office buildings and administrative properties. This includes the donated life estate gift annuity (LEGA) properties program, which converts donated properties into funding for the Scripps Health Foundation.

Additionally, Armstrong is responsible for supply chain management, which includes managing all system-wide policies and procedures relating to purchasing, inventory, database management, reporting, operations, bids, contracts and compliance for medical and non-medical supplies, equipment and services. The department’s ongoing mission is to provide Scripps’ hospitals, clinics and support functions with the right product, at the right time, at the right price without compromising the quality of care to patients.

Over the past nine years, Armstrong has implemented supply chain management tactics that have saved more than $50 million for Scripps Health. This year supply chain is driving a $20 million savings initiative that includes transition of pharmacy management in-house – an $8 million projected savings in the first year. Pharmacy is also implementing a new bar-coding system that will provide additional cost-savings, replace the manual process and greatly improve patient safety.

Armstrong attended the University of California, Los Angeles and graduated from California State University, Los Angeles earning his bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration. Armstrong began his career with Scripps in 1981 serving as regional financial director and associate administrator for Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla and Scripps Green Hospital. In 2001, he served as interim chief financial officer for Scripps Health before his current appointment.

Prior to joining Scripps in 1981, Armstrong was director of internal auditing at Hyatt Medical Enterprises, regional controller for Beverly Enterprises and a certified public accountant with Hutchinson & Bloodgood.

For more than five years, Armstrong has served on the San Diego County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit and is a certified emergency medical technician (EMT). Most recently, he traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti as a member of the third Scripps Medical Response Team to aid victims of the 7.0 earthquake that devastated the country in 2010.