Health Forward Elects New Officers and Members to its Board of Directors

KANSAS CITY, MO – At its January meeting, the Health Forward Foundation Board of Directors elected new board officers, three new members and approved the re-election of four existing members.

Mary Lou Jaramillo was elected to replace Gurnie Gunter as the Chair of the Health Forward Board of Directors. Gunter completed his second year as Chair in 2007 and was ineligible to be re-elected due to term limits. Other newly elected officers include:

Larry Blankinship, Vice Chair
Mark Flaherty, Secretary
Landon Rowland, Treasurer
“I am both proud and excited to follow in the footsteps of former Chairs Dr. Harry Jonas and Gurnie Gunter,” said Jaramillo. “Under their leadership, Health Forward designed one of the most fair and open ethics policy in the country, guaranteeing that all grant applicants are on a level playing field. Health Forward has become a national leader in ethics and diversity and a strong community voice for the uninsured and underserved. I’m honored to continue in this tradition and look forward to working with the board, staff and CAC to improve the health and health care of those in our community.”

At the meeting, Health Forward also welcomed three new members to the board. The following individuals were selected to serve a three-year term:

Bernard Franklin, Ph.D, President, Metropolitan Community College – Penn Valley
Sylvia Robinson, PhD, President, Swope Center for Career Advancement
Norman Siegel, J.D., Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP
Current Board members Christina Esteban, Bishop Steve Jones, David Ross and Terry Thompson were also elected to serve an additional three-year term.

“Each of these individuals brings with them not only a wealth of knowledge and expertise, but a passion to help improve the health of those in need. We look forward to their service in helping to guide Health Forward in years to come,” said Jaramillo.