SARASOTA, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2017) – Today, the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board, which governs Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, elected its new officers for 2017-2018.
Made up of nine citizens elected by Sarasota County voters to four-year terms, the board oversees the hospital’s finances and quality improvement efforts and meets regularly to set the strategic direction for the system. Each November, the board appoints a new slate of officers from its members.
The new chairman of the board is Joseph J. DeVirgilio Jr., who has represented Seat 2 in the Central District since 2013. DeVirgilio is president of Suncoast Management Consultants and a senior consultant with River Consulting Group. Previously, he held a series of executive positions for the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and also served 12 years on a hospital board and foundation there before retiring and relocating to Venice, Fla. He currently serves as a volunteer for the AARP, helping seniors in Venice with their taxes.
The other new Sarasota County Public Hospital Board positions are:
First Vice Chairman: William Noonan
Second Vice Chairman: James Meister
Treasurer: Sharon Wetzler DePeters
Secretary: Tramm Hudson
Assistant Secretary: Susan Tucker
Assistant Treasurer: Darryl Henry
The board recognized Greg Carter, who was elected to the Hospital Board in 2002 and represents the southern district, for his outstanding leadership and guidance as chairman the past two years. Carter also served as chairman 2009-2010. During Carter’s most recent tenure, Sarasota Memorial welcomed its first class of physician Internal Medicine residents and launched the Newtown Internal Medicine Practice, received official designation as a Level II Trauma Center, earned preliminary state approval to establish a new hospital on Laurel Road Hospital and opened SMH’s new Rehabilitation Pavilion and St. Armands Urgent Care Center.
About Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care, with more than 900,000 patient visits each year. Its flagship 829-bed, acute-care hospital has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s largest and best, with superior patient outcomes and a complete continuum of outpatient services – from urgent care, trauma and emergency services to laboratory and diagnostic imaging, home health, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. SMH is the only hospital in Florida with the highest five-star ranking from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid for quality and safety.