At its annual meeting May 13 in Belle Glade, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County’s Board of Commissioners elected its new chairman and officers. In a unanimous vote, the board elected Vice Chairman Philip H. Ward III to serve as chairman of the volunteer district board, along with Brian R. Lohmann as the new vice chairman and Nancy C. Banner as secretary.
Ward was appointed to the board by Gov. Rick Scott in October 2011. He also serves on the district’s finance committee.
“It is an honor to serve as chair of the Health Care District board,” Ward said. “At a time of great change in healthcare in Florida and across the country, I take pride in the safety-net programs that the Health Care District provides to keep our community healthy.”
Ward is president and managing partner of Ward Damon, a law firm that he co-founded in 1987. From 1980 to 1984, he served as legislative counsel and assistant to U.S. Sen. Warren Rudman of New Hampshire. He is a member and former chairman of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County and the Internet Coast Tri-County Economic Development Council, former director of the Forum Club of Palm Beach County, as well as the Economic Council of Palm Beach County.
Ward succeeds Carol Roberts as board chair. Roberts, a former Palm Beach County commissioner, was appointed to the Health Care District board by the Palm Beach County Commission in 2008, and then re-appointed in 2012 for a second four-year term. Also serving on the seven-member board are Dr. Alina M. Alonso, director of the Florida Department of Health Palm Beach County, Leslie B. Daniels and Angeleta Gray, a former Delray Beach city commissioner.
The board’s annual meeting was held in Belle Glade at Lakeside Medical Center, the Health Care District’s 70-bed, acute care hospital serving the Glades communities.
The Health Care District of Palm Beach County provides adult and pediatric services at the C.L. Brumback Primary Care Clinics throughout the county, health coverage programs for uninsured residents, a pharmacy operation, a nationally recognized trauma system, dedicated nurses in nearly 170 public schools and a long-term skilled nursing and rehabilitation center.
Acute care hospital services are provided at the Lakeside Medical Center, the county’s only public hospital, serving the rural western Palm Beach County communities.
ABOVE: Members of the Health Care District board choose new officers.
