Raquel Cruz Bono, MD, MBA, FACS

For nearly 30 years Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono, MD, MBA, FACS, served with honor and distinction as a highly respected Naval Officer and one of the few, select military surgeons to attain the rank of Vice Admiral.

Currently, Bono is the CEO, MedicaliSight, a SAMD 3D- navigational, imaging company for minimally-invasive interventional procedures. Previously, as Chief Health Officer for Viking Cruises, she safely re-established cruising through industry-leading protocols during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Prior to Viking, she was a gubernatorial appointee as the Director of Washington State COVID-19 Health System Response Management, subsequently leading the state’s Pandemic Health Response. Bono is a Senior Fellow with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

As the former chief executive officer (CEO) and director, Defense Health Agency (DHA), Vice Admiral (Dr.) Bono led a joint, integrated combat support agency that enabled all branches of the U.S. military – Army, Navy, and Air Force – medical services to provide health care services to combatant commands. Bono integrated an unprecedented $50 billion worldwide health care enterprise composed of 50 hospitals and 300 clinics that provided care to 9.5 million military beneficiaries; oversaw the Military Health System (MHS) deployment of the electronic health record (EHR) system; and advanced the development of the largest federated health system with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

A board-certified trauma surgeon, Dr. Bono is an inspiration and role model for surgeons, across the country and in the military. Dr. Bono received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, Austin; her Master of Business Administration from Washington State University, Spokane; and her medical degree from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, Lubbock. She completed her surgical internship and residency at the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA and performed a trauma and critical care fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine, Norfolk.

Dr. Bono’s leadership positions in the DoD include: CEO/director, DHA; CEO/director, National Capital Region Medical Directorate; acting commander, Joint Task Force (JTF), National Capital Region; command surgeon, U.S. Pacific Command; chief of staff, TRICARE, DoD; commanding officer (CEO), Naval Hospital, Jacksonville, FL; and was deployed to the first Gulf War as head of casualty receiving, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Stormy.

Bono currently serves on several boards including Humana, Inc., a Fortune 500 health services company; Chair of the Board of Governors for the National Military Family Association (NMFA), a nonprofit organization supporting the unique needs of military families; Chair, Council of Directors for the Henry Jackson Foundation for the advancement of military medicine and Vice Chair, Leapfrog Group for health care transparency and patient safety.

Her honors include: Bob Dole World War II Foundation Leadership Award; Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Clinical Executive Leaders; 50 Most Influential Healthcare Physician Executives and Leaders and 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare; an Executive Mosaic Washington Top 100 Executives; University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus; and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Presidential Distinguished Alumni Award.