Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> April 28, 2003
DAVID WESTER is Executive Vice President, Corporate Services and
Chief Financial Officer of VITAS Healthcare Corporation. He has
served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the company
since 1997, part of the senior management team that has guided
VITAS to a doubling of its revenues and a 50% increase in patient
census over the past five years. He brings more than 15 years of
experience in healthcare finance to his role at VITAS, the
nation's largest and one of the nation's oldest providers of end-
of-life care. He is responsible for treasury and finance,
strategic planning, information technology, the Office of General
Counsel, human resources, and all other back office and support
operations. Originally appointed Senior Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, he was named to his current position in the
summer of 2002. Mr. Wester came to VITAS from Foundation Health,
a Florida Health Plan, Inc., where he served as Executive Vice
President with oversight responsibility for statewide operations
and revenues of approximately $300 million. Foundation Health is
a diversified provider of managed health care benefits and
related services for individuals, employers and government
agencies. He previously served as Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Care Florida, Inc. (formerly Heritage
Health Plan), where he had operational and financial
responsibility for a $190 million HMO. Before his work with two
of Florida's largest managed care organizations, Mr. Wester
served in various senior capacities for companies affiliated with
Foster Management, a private investment firm, where he assisted
in the development of several healthcare companies involved in
physical therapy, orthopedics and prosthetics, and managed care.
He began his career as a Senior Accountant with Price Waterhouse
offices in New York City and Milwaukee, where he mainly worked
with public corporations. He is a Certified Public Accountant and
a member of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, the Florida Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, Financial Executives Institute and Treasury
Management Association. He received a Bachelor of Business
Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Profile
Healthcare and an overview of what's going on at the present
time?
Mr. Wester: The company is more than 25 years old, having
