Danielle Breslin has been named the new president and CEO of the Moses Taylor Foundation, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, according to a February 2022 press release. She will start her new job on March 14, 2022. Focus areas of the foundation, which funds in northeastern Pennsylvania, include school-based health and older adult isolation. Breslin is currently vice president, operations and learning, for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
The New Hanover Community Endowment, a foundation formed from New Hanover County, North Carolina’s sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health, announced the name of its inaugural CEO and president. William Buster, who will start there on March 1, 2022, already serves on the endowment’s board. He most recently has been senior vice president of impact with Dogwood Health Trust. According to his online biography, Buster has also worked for St. David’s Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. According to a January 4, 2022, article in WilmingtonBiz, the New Hanover County Endowment was “officially christened in February 2021” and “was bestowed $1.24 billion in sale proceeds.” The county “seat” is in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The Colorado Trust has reported some key personnel changes. Ned Calonge, who had been president and CEO for more than a decade, has stepped down, according to a December 9, 2021, press release. Warren Johnson, the trust’s board chair, commented in the release, “Under [Ned Calonge’s] leadership, the foundation was one of the first in the country to focus on advancing health equity in its work, and also to prioritize community-driven grantmaking.” Don Mares, a member of the trust’s board, has been named interim president and CEO, effective January 31, 2022. Most recently, he was executive director of Denver Human Services and deputy mayor of Denver, according to a December 20, 2021, release.
Lori A. Cox has been named the new vice president of programs at the California Wellness Foundation, according to a February 2022 press release. She will start her new job in April 2022. Cox is agency director of the Alameda County (California) Social Services Agency. She holds a master of science degree in counseling psychology from California State University, Hayward.
Patti Doykos, who worked for the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation for nearly twenty years, is now executive director of health equity at Bristol Myers Squibb (the company), according to a June 2021 Q & A on the company’s website. She started her new job in May 2021. She says in that article, “I will bring lessons from the [foundation] grantees and my wonderful colleagues in the Foundation with me and continue to be an advocate for people facing both serious illness and barriers to healthcare.” Doykos was most recently a director at the foundation.
Alice Ehrlich joined the United Hospital Fund as senior program manager in the Quality Institute in late 2021, according to her online biography. She previously worked at Healthfirst, where she was population health manager. Ehrlich holds a master of science in public health degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in the United Kingdom.
Among new board members at the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky are Frances Feltner, director of the University of Kentucky’s Center for Excellence in Rural Health, and Wayne Tuckson, a colorectal surgeon, who is also host of the weekly Kentucky Health program on Kentucky Educational Television (KET).
Al Kurose, a physician, has been named chair of the board of the Rhode Island Foundation, according to a December 2021 press release. He is president of Coastal Medical and senior vice president for primary care and population health at Lifespan. “Coastal is a primary care–driven Accountable Care Organization” and “is nationally recognized for its performance in population health management,” the release said.
In January 2022 Rachel Ermann Lynch joined the staff of the Northern Virginia Health Foundation as the program officer. She previously worked with the Arlington County (Virginia) Public Health Division on its COVID-19 response, according to her online biography. Lynch holds a master in public health degree from the George Washington University. She succeeds Tricia Rodgers, who retired in December 2021 and had been program officer since 2008.
Susan Mims has been named CEO of Dogwood Health Trust, in Asheville, North Carolina, according to a press release. Mims had held the title of interim CEO since December 2020. She holds medical and master of public health degrees from the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, says her online biography. Before coming to Dogwood, she was chair of the department of community and public health at UNC Health Sciences at Mountain Area Health Education Center, according to the release. Other past positions include CEO of Mission Children’s Hospital and medical director of the Buncombe County (North Carolina) Health Department.
In November 2021 Jeb Murphy was promoted to communications manager at the Maine Health Access Foundation, according to its newsletter. He was previously communications associate.
In a November 2021 online letter to friends and colleagues, Gary Nelson announced his intention to retire as president of Healthcare Georgia Foundation in spring 2022. Nelson was appointed to lead the foundation in 2002. The foundation, located in Atlanta, is partnering with WittKieffer to identify the next president. Should you want to “apply, inquire, or nominate a colleague,” read more here.
In other news at the Colorado Trust, Morris W. Price Jr. has been named the trust’s vice president of grants, according to a press release. He started in that role in August 2021. He previously was vice president and executive director of City Year Denver. Price holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Regis University.
In other Northern Virginia Health Foundation news, Sonia Quiñónez, director of strategic grantmaking at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Kimberley Ragnartz, vice president of delivery system operations at Kaiser Permanente in Northern Virginia, were appointed to the foundation’s board, according to a February 2022 e-alert.
Tom Romeo recently joined the Charles Koch Foundation as the associate director of health care, he writes. He says he “leads a portfolio of health care investments and drives strategic engagement in academic institutions.” Health care is among the focus areas of the foundation, located in Arlington, Virginia. Previously, Romeo was a program officer at Stand Together, where he worked for the health care and technology and innovation teams. He holds a master of public health degree from the University of Arizona.
The Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) announced in January 2022 that Drew Wilburne is its director of policy and outreach. He “will develop and drive KHF’s policy agenda at the Kansas Statehouse and beyond, and will nurture needed relationships and create partnerships at all levels of KHF’s policy portfolio,” the foundation said. Wilburne previously was director of intergovernmental affairs at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.
Author’s Note
First, I want to give a shout-out to Allen Smart of PhilanthropywoRX for sending along various “scoops,” over the past several months, about comings and goings in health philanthropy.
Next, I want to say farewell, GrantWatch readers! I am retiring next week. It has been my pleasure to write about health philanthropy for many years and to edit your articles.
Please consider submitting a short article to Health Affairs Forefront. Here are examples of the types of articles we have accepted for publication in the past. My Health Affairs colleagues will be pleased to consider your article for publication. Submission guidelines are here (see GrantWatch).
