Story by Riley Eversull
Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune
CAMP LEJEUNE, NC – United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Mashiana Sutton has been named Navy Medicine’s Senior Financial Management Officer of the Year for 2023. Sutton currently serves at the director for resource management at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Camp Lejeune at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune.
“Lt. Cmdr. Sutton is strategically focused, leads forward, and embraces the ‘get real get better’ mindset,” said Captain Kevin J. Brown, commander and director, in his endorsement letter of Sutton. “In addition to her exemplary professional abilities and diplomatic expertise, she embodies the highest standard of military decorum.”
Sutton, a native of Silver Creek, Mississippi, provides daily executive oversight of all aspects of financial management at the medical center to include budgeting, accounting, and auditing among other financial services.
“I believe this award reflects the entire resource management directorate,” Sutton said. “I strive daily to provide clear guidance that aligns with our mission…It takes high-performing teamwork to truly accomplish the mission amid constant transition and change; no one does it alone.”
The yearly award recognizes compassion, accountability, professionalism, and leadership within the medical fields and subspecialty fields within Navy Medicine.
As Sutton explains, part of serving NMCCL’s military and civilian patients is good stewardship and striving for financial excellence.
“For us, that means ensuring that the [military treatment facility] medical providers and all support staff have the resources they need to provide care and support to our unique patient population,” Sutton explained. “We aim to carry out this mission in most ethical, professional, legal, and efficient way, avoiding fraud waste and abuse.”
Sutton has a background in public health with an emphasis in health care administration, but as she explains, shifting toward the career path of a comptroller is something she wouldn’t change.
“It is challenging, exciting, and no two days are ever the same,” said Sutton. “A lot of the work is behind the scenes, but as any comptroller will tell you, it’s truly rewarding to see that work pay off in the form of better patient outcomes, improved safety, expanded facilities, increased staffing, profession development and much more. Nothing moves without the money!”
NMRTC Camp Lejeune is the readiness platform for Navy Medicine personnel attached to Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, a military medical treatment facility on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Eastern North Carolina.