NCFH Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of the National Center for Farmworker Health provides direction and oversight in order to assure compliance with mission and fiduciary well-being of the corporation. The Board is comprised of 11 members who are dedicated to the development of the strategic direction of NCFH in pursuit of its mission of improving the health status of farmworker families. Board members may serve as Migrant Health Center (MHC) Representatives or as a Member at Large. In order to qualify as a MHC Representative, nominees must be currently employed by a federally funded MHC in either a clinical, administrative, or governance position and must function at a high level of responsibility within the center. Members at Large are individuals whose career accomplishments demonstrate a broad base of experience and expertise in a specific area such as research, population advocacy, government, public relations, public health, fundraising, etc. Members at Large also have a demonstrated history of that expertise in the field of Migrant Health.

Current NCFH Board Members are:

Officers:

Board Chair

Edward Hendrikson
Migrant & Environmental Health Director
Plan de Salud del Valle
Fort Lupton, Colorado

Ed Hendrikson is currently the Environmental Health Director of Salud Family Health Center. Salud is a large Community/Migrant Health Center with 10 sites in Northern Colorado. Salud has more than 250,000 patient visits annually with more than 16,000 of those patients identifying themselves as migrant or seasonal farmworkers. Ed has worked at Salud for more than 22 years. He has a Bachelors degree in Mathematics, a Master's Degree in Pediatric Medicine, and a PhD in Environmental Health. He currently conducts several research projects involving environmental and occupational exposures in farmworker populations from Mexico and Central America. In addition, he has a project in Swaziland, Africa focused on providing housing and health care to HIV orphans who have lost their parents to HIV related diseases as they migrate throughout Southern Africa. He has been on the NCFH board since 2003.

Vice Chair

Harry Foster
Chief Executive Officer
Family HealthCare Network
Visalia, California

Harry L. Foster is the Chief Executive Officer at Family HealthCare Network. With more than 35 years experience in health care administration in both the inpatient and outpatient settings, he has been an active participant in the evolution of health care delivery. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Community Medicine with an emphasis on health care administration from the University of Utah, College of Medicine. He serves on numerous local, state, and national boards and committees. Under his leadership, Family HealthCare Network has grown from a small outpatient clinic in Porterville with an annual budget of $250,000 per year to a multi-site ambulatory care network with an annual budget of more than $50 million per year. The Network currently serves more than 85,000 patients in the Tulare and Kings Counties and provided more than 300,000 visits in the last year. Family HealthCare Network, one of the largest farmworker clinics in the nation, prides itself in being culturally and linguistically competent in serving everyone, but particularly Latino and Southeast Asian populations. All patients are served in a manner that respects individual dignity and recognizes access barriers such as financial ability, language, cultural background, and geographic/transportation issues.

Secretary

Velma Hendershott
President/CEO
InterCare Community Health Network
Bangor, Michigan

Velma Hendershott is the President and CEO of InterCare Community Health, a large multi site network of Community/ Migrant Health Centers located in Southwestern Michigan. Velma has a long history of work in migrant health, and carries the torch passed on to her by a prior administrator of note, Vera Martinez who is her mother. Originally from Texas, Velma's family migrated to Michigan where she was raised, completed her undergraduate degree and studies towards a Master's in Public Administration at Western Michigan University. Velma's role as a leader among C/MHCs on the state and national levels is well known and she has been recognized by the National Association of Community Health Centers as the recipient of the Louis Garcia Award, and served as President of NACHC in 2000-01. Among Velma's accomplishments are the growing of InterCare Community Health from a small migrant only grantee, established in 1973, to a large, multi site, multi disciplinary corporation serving more than 40,000 patients in a 6 county area. Her contributions to the NCFH Board of Directors include input on policy and management issues and an ability to articulate the needs of C/MHCs and help to frame NCFH strategies in response to that need.

Treasurer

Steve Weinman
Vice President, Finance and Information Systems
Collier Health Services, Inc.
Immokalee, Florida

Steve is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Collier Health Services, a large C/MHC serving SW Florida. He has been with CHS since 1984 when he designed and produced a CHC practice management system. Since then, he has served as Chief Information Officer and Chief Financial Officer. In addition, he was the founding CEO of a CHC in Broward County, Florida. He was the first CEO of the Community Health Centers Alliance, a large statewide CHC network in Florida. Steve earned a BS in Telecommunications, and an MBA in information systems/accounting from the University of Florida.

Members:

Karen Watt
Owner/Manager
Watt's Farm
Albion, New York

Karen Watt has been involved in agricultural and farmworker issues for many years. Along with her husband, Christopher, she owns and operates approximately 250 acres of orchards and the Watt Farms Country Market in New York. She served on the Orleans County Farm Bureau from 1992 to 2000 and was elected Bureau President in 1995. As a member and Chair of the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health, she advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues related to the health of migrant farmworkers. In addition to being elected to the Board of Directors for the National Center for Farmworker Health, she serves on the Oak Orchard Community Health Center Board, the Lake Plains Resource Conservation and Development Council Board, and she is a former member of the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association Board. In addition to advocating for farmworkers in the United States, she has volunteered her time and expertise to projects at the international level. In 1996, she traveled to the Republic of Guinea, West Africa to focus on marketing of traditional agricultural produce, diversification of products grown, and value-added products. In April 1997, she worked with the Citizens Development Corps/MBA Enterprise Corps in Calabar, Nigeria to develop and promote agriculture and agritourism in the Ikom regional area. Karen counts being a breast cancer survivor among her most important achievements. Since 2005, Karen has sponsored the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Watt Farms.

Hilda Dávila
Deputy Director for Administration and Information of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad

Hilda Dávila is the Deputy Director for Administration and Information of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad. She holds a B.A. in International Relations at El Colegio de Mexico and a Msc. in Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been a public servant for the Government of Mexico at different posts such as the Office of the President, the Secretariat of Public Education and the Secretariat of Health during the last 20 years. In 1993 and 1994, she lived in Chicago working at the Consulate General of Mexico as Press Secretary. There she acquired first hand experience of how Mexican migrants live in the United States. This experience also helped her recognize the importance of culturally competent health access. She became Chief of Staff of the Secretary of Public Education from 1995 to 2000, and she was involved in binational projects on migrant education. From 2001 to 2006 she served at the Secretariat of Health, holding the post of Deputy Director for Migrant Health, where the Binational Health Weeks and the Ventanillas de Salud were launched and became Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Health, Julio Frenk.

Arcadio Viveros
Fort Worth , Texas

Arcadio Viveros is currently Chief Executive Officer at Albert Galvan Health Clinic in Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Viveros has 30 years of experience working in health care access for the medically indigent. Formerly, he was Chief Executive Director of Salud Para La Gente, Inc., a community clinic serving the medical, dental, and health prevention needs of migrant farm workers and indigent families in the PÃ¡jaro Valley. He joined Salud to lead it back to financial solvency, and left it a thriving organization, serving thousands of residents in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Prior to his post with Salud, Arcadio also served as CEO of United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley serving thousands of migrant farm workers and their families residing in California's Central San Joaquin Valley. Appointed to the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health by DHHS Secretary Louis Sullivan and later continued under Secretary Donna Shalela, he advised the DHHS Secretary on national strategies needed to ameliorate the health, work, and living conditions suffered by migrant farmworkers in the US. Born in Michoacán, Mexico, Arcadio immigrated to the United States and was a migrant farm worker in the San Joaquin Valley. He valued the importance of higher education and attended Reedley Jr. College, Fresno State University, and Antioch College's Juarez-Lincoln Center. In 1971, after promoting Mexican-Americans participation in the political process, he was elected to the Council and later served as Mayor of the city of Parlier for 13 years.

Marguerite Salazar Valley-Wide
Health Systems, Inc.,
Alamosa, Colorado

Marguerite Salazar is the President/CEO of Valley-Wide Health Systems, Inc., a Community Health Center providing primary and dental health care services to over 55,000 residents of the San Luis, Lower and Upper Arkansas Valleys on the eastern slope and in Durango and Mancos on the western slope of Colorado. One of the largest rural health care centers in the United States, Valley-Wide is recognized for exceptional outcomes in prenatal and adolescent health care outreach programs. A recipient of the Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA) Bernie Valdez Award for Excellence in Health and a Bonfil Stanton Livingston Fellow, Marguerite has grown the company into a $31 million corporation.

Marguerite was appointed twice by Governor Bill Owens to serve on the state Medical Services Board that promulgates rules for the state’s Medicaid program. She also served on the Children’s Health Plan Plus (CHP+) policy Board since it’s inception. She is currently on the Board of Governors for Colorado State University, serves as a Trustee for the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation, is a Board member for the Colorado Humanities and sits on numerous health care committees and associations.

With over 20 years of health care administration experience, Marguerite also serves as a consultant for the Bureau of Primary Health Care under the Department of Health and Human Services in the areas of Governance and Administration.

Sandra Leal

Clinical Supervisor

El Rio Community Health Center

Tuscon, Arizona

Sandra Leal, PharmD, CDE is the Clinical Pharmacy Supervisor for El Rio Community Health Center in Tucson , Arizona . Sandra has been practicing in a pharmacist managed clinic that she developed to target comprehensive diabetes management in underserved populations. She works with various ethnic groups including Hispanic and American Indians. Sandra is also the first pharmacist to receive prescriptive authority in Arizona through a collaborative drug therapy management agreement (CDTM). Sandra earned her Bachelor’s of Pharmacy degree and her Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Colorado in Denver, Colorado . She went on to complete a General Practice Pharmacy Residency at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in Tucson . Following her residency, Sandra worked as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Cardiology at University Medical Center (UMC) in Tucson before accepting her current position. Besides working at El Rio Community Health Center she has an appointment as Clinical Instructor in Pharmacy Practice & Science at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy and serves as a consultant for the HRSA Pharmacy Services Support Center at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). Sandra is the mother of a 5 year old daughter. She loves to spend time traveling with her family. Her ultimate goal is to improve care, inspire others to take action, and build equitable health care that is available to all.

Members Emeritus

Gil Walter
President/CEO
Community Health Care, Inc.
Bridgeton, New Jersey

Gil Walter is currently President and CEO of Community Health Care. Following graduation from Indiana University with a BA in English, Gil served in the US Peace Corps in Brazil. As a young man, he worked as a manager of inner-city youth employment and training programs in Chicago. Later he completed a Master's Degree in Anthropology at the University of the Americas in Mexico and began his career in health care as the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Migrant Health Program. He completed an MPH in Health Care Administration at the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill and has served for 30 years in leadership roles in Migrant/Community Health Center organizations in Wisconsin, Florida, California, and New Jersey. He has been President and CEO of Community Health Care, Inc. since August 2000. He is a Big Brother/Big Sister volunteer and presently serves as the Chairperson for the Mayor's Campaign for Healthier Bridgeton and on the boards of the New Jersey Primary Care Association, the National Migrant Health Advisory Council, NACHC (National Association of Community Health Centers), the National Center for Farmworker Health, the Bridgeton Main Street Association, and the Bridgeton PAL as well as a member of the Bridgeton Rotary Club. In 2004, Gil was awarded a National Health Center Leadership Award for distinguished health services to migrant farmworkers and was named the Big Brother of the Year for the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization.

James Laughlin
La Porte, Indiana

For more than 30 years James (Jim) Laughlin was Executive Director of the Community Health Partnership of Illinois, a state wide migrant health program providing primary care primarily through a nurse managed "voucher" model. Jim served as member and officer on various boards addressing migrant farmworker issues including being President of NCFH, President of the Midwest Migrant Health Consortium, and Treasurer of the National Association of Community Health Centers.

Jim is currently semi retired (emphasis on semi) and is developing real estate in LaPorte, Indiana. His "for the fun of it" job has been guiding bike tours in Spain and Portugal, being tour leader for rafting trips through the Grand Canyon and tour leader for a trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru. Passions include (but not limited to) biking, horses, hiking, travel and gardening.

Jim lives in Indiana with John, his partner of 30 years, has 3 married daughters and 7 grandchildren.

Rafael Martinez
San Marcos, California

The Reverend Dr. Rafael Martinez (1924-2008) came out of retirement at least three times to exercise his commitment to the farmworker community, after a lifetime of servant leadership in the fields of academics and ministry. He was most noted for his proactive advocacy in the canyons of southern California where holes in the ground and cardboard boxes serve as "home" to workers who live in the shadows of multi million dollar homes. Rafael's health services achievements include establishment of clinics and outreach programs, with a special focus on the needs of pregnant women for whom prenatal and delivery care is often a matter of life and death. Those of us who have had the privilege of working with Rafael Martinez know him to have been "un verdadero caballero", a true gentleman, and a passionate advocate for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. He truly fought the good fight; the fight for farmworkers' rights and a forced march in a three year long battle with esophageal cancer, which ended on March 6, 2008. Rafael served on the NCFH Board of Directors as a Board Member from 1993 to 1997 and returned in 2000 as a Member Emeritus. Rafael will be remembered as a dear colleague, role model, and great friend.

NCFH solicits nominations for the NCFH Board of Directors on a year round basis, with elections held in the spring of each year. NCFH seeks nominees who have demonstrated through professional achievement, their understanding of and commitment to provision of health services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Board members serve a term of office of three years. After their first term, they may be reappointed or re-elected to a second and third consecutive term.

The NCFH board meets on a quarterly basis, three to four times a year. One meeting per year is scheduled in Austin, Texas with the others being held in conjunction with other national meetings.

Candidates may nominate themselves or may be nominated by their peers. For consideration, candidates should submit the following documents as their formal application:

Letter of interest
Current CV or resume
Contact information for at least two references

Nominations received by November of each year will be considered for spring elections.

For more information on the nomination process, please contact Bobbi Ryder, CEO, at (512) 312-5453 or ryder@ncfh.org.