Alumni Spotlight: David Whitehurst

DAVID WHITEHURST

I am a 1999 BSN graduate. I started as an education major at Liberty University, but God had a different plan for my life. I knew many of the nursing faculty from my orderly/CNA job at Virginia Baptist Hospital. In my junior year of school, Dr. Britt met with me and accepted me into the BSN program on probation. I like to believe that she saw some hopeful potential.

After graduation, I worked in ICU at Virginia Baptist Hospital for 1 year before joining the United States Air Force in 2000. I served as a clinical nurse in North Carolina for 3 years and then transferred to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio as a critical care/trauma nurse. During my time at Wright Patterson, I was deployed to Balad, Iraq, in 2003-04. I was a member of the first contingency of USAF medical personnel to take over the Medical/ Trauma hospital from the U.S. Army. I also deployed on many humanitarian missions, like Hurricane Katrina. I believe my Christian faith and education at Liberty prepared me for the intensity of a war zone. Without an education based on Christian principles, I don’t believe I could have dealt with some of the horrific casualties that I encountered. My education and faith in Jesus Christ were a comfort in some very difficult times.

In July 2007, I transferred from the USAF to the United States

Public Health Service (USPHS). I was first stationed at Federal Medical Center, Devens in Massachusetts. I was the utilization review coordinator, hospital discharge planner, and kidney transplant coordinator for federal inmates. I finished my Master of Healthcare Administration in 2012 and transferred to Salter, S.C., as a healthcare administrator of all medical services for over 1,500 Federal Inmates.

In 2015, I was hired by the Central Office Occupational Health Program, Dept. of Justice Bureau of Prisons. I transferred to Fort Worth, Texas, as a workers’ compensation specialist. Currently, I evaluate long-term medical cases of federal employees to ensure that patient care guidelines are followed, evaluate fraudulent medical claims, ensure compliance with Department of Labor laws, and evaluate discrepancies/mismanagement of resources.

I have been married to my wife, Mary, whom I met at Liberty University, for 27 years. She has been supportive and my best friend. We have 4 children: Cole, 21; Hannah-Faith, 20; Jackson, 18; and William, 16. I currently have 2 children at Liberty, and my son Jackson has been accepted for Fall 2023. I am getting ready to retire and hopefully move back to Lynchburg this coming summer. God has blessed my career, and I am very thankful to LUSON for giving me a chance to succeed.