Board Of Trustees

Kenneth H.Z. Isaacs, M.D.
Board Chair

Board Members Listed Alphabetically:

Kenneth H.Z. Isaacs, M.D.
Board Chair
Past President, Washington State Medical Association
Dr. Ken Isaacs is the immediate Past President of the Washington State Medical Association, and currently Chair of the Executive Committee. He has been involved with the evolution of our health care system with contribution to the Health Care Options Task Force and Rural Health Committee. He has been intimately involved with efforts of medical liability reform, as Chairman, as well as currently working to enhance the Medical Quality Assurance processes.

Dr. Isaacs has undergraduate and graduate training in mathematics and physics at the University of California and Princeton University. Choosing a medical career in neuroscience, he has been in private practice in Walla Walla for 25 years after completion of residency and fellowship work at UCSD. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Neurology, as well as having subspecialty board certification with his work in neuromuscular medicine. He has served on Providence Services hospital boards for 11 years. He has also been involved in his community as a member of various boards and task forces.

Dr. Nancy Fisher is the Medical Director for the Health Care Authority. In 2003, she brought with her to this position, a broad background in health care being a registered nurse in coronary care; completing residencies in pediatrics, clinical genetics, and preventive medicine. She has board certification in pediatrics and clinical genetics, and received certification from the University of Washington in Health Care Ethics.

At the University of Washington, she is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and active with the Institute for Public Health Genetics of the School of Public Health and active with the School of Medicine. Dr. Fisher founded the first genetics clinic in a Public Health Department, served on the 5-year planning committee for the National Human Genome Project, served nine years on the Secretary of Health (HHS) Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality, and previously was the Medical Director for Medicaid for the state of Washington.

Because of her work with individuals from Southeast Asia, Dr. Fisher was invited by the Johns Hopkins University Press to edit a book on cultural influences in genetic decision making and health disparities. She is a founding member of the American College of Medical Genetics, member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Physician Executives. Locally she is active in the Washington State Medical Association and she is a member of the King County Metro Board of Directors, the American Heart Association, and 10 State Affiliate Board’s Strategic Planning Committee. This year she was named Physician of the Year by the AHA King County Metro Board.

Nancy Auer, M.D., F.A.C.E.,
Immediate Past Chair
Chief Medical Officer, Swedish Medical Center
Dr. Nancy Auer has worked at Swedish Medical Center for 14 years and currently serves as Chief Medical Officer. Prior to this, Dr. Auer was VP of Medical Affairs, and Assistant Director at the Department of Emergency Services. She also frequently lectures on several medical topics.

Dr. Auer is the past President of the Washington State Medical Association. She is currently a member of many boards and committees at Swedish Hospital, Seattle-King County Disaster Team, Boeing Advisory Committee on Leapfrog Initiative, American Heart Association, King County Health Department, Bellevue Club and Rainier Club. Dr. Auer is certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and has recently received the Honorary Fellowship of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine and the John G. Wiegenstein Leadership Award.

Andrew is administrator of Garfield County Public Hospital District in the "Frontier Rural" Community of Pomeroy, located in the South East corner of Washington State. He is a graduate of Washington State University with a degree in Business Administration. Andrew began his service in Health care in Assisted Living and joined Garfield County Hospital District in 2000. He and his team have focused on developing the means and methods of delivering the most gratifying health care experience to the small rural community they serve. Testing all initiatives against their ability to contribute to sustainability; the District is focused on improving the patient experience, operational efficiency and financial performance. In addition to his work as administrator Andrew is a volunteer EMT, serves on the board of the Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts and the Critical Access Hospital Network. He is also very involved in Critical Access Hospital and Quality initiatives.

Vic Dirksen has been the administrator of Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend Washington for the past 24 years. In that time he has been instrumental in establishing many programs that have effectively improved health care delivery in rural Jefferson County.

Mr. Dirksen is currently the President of the Board of Directors of the Washington Rural Health Association.

Leo Greenawalt has been president of the Washington State Hospital Association for the past 20 years. Previously, he was vice president in the government affairs division of the Michigan Hospital Association and vice president of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA). Mr. Greenawalt began his career as a hospital CEO in Oklahoma, and at two different times, served in public policy positions in Washington, D.C.

For the American Hospital Association (AHA), Mr. Greenawalt served in an at-large position on the Board of Trustees, and as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, Health Care 94 Steering Committee, Committee on Allied Hospital Associations, and Task Force on National HealthCare Reform. He has also chaired the State Hospital Association Executives Forum (SHAEF). Mr. Greenawalt is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, from which he received the Gold Medal Award in 1999. He has also been active in the Healthcare Forum.

Susanne Hartung, S.P. recently served as Vice President for Mission, Ethics and Community Relations for Swedish Health Services following the sell of Providence Medical Center to Swedish. She currently serves as Regional Director of Mission and Ethics of the Washington/Montana Region of Providence Health & Services Susanne is passionate about access issues, particularity for the poor and vulnerable and has worked to this end by building partnerships with a wide range of community groups. She also has played a lead role in Providence's sweeping campaign to reduce domestic violence in the community. Her current work includes a new initiative for Providence: Ministry Leadership Formation for the Executive Team as well as the integration of the newly formed Providence Health & Services.

Prior to entering health care, Sister Susanne spent many years in the education ministry as a teacher, counselor and administrator. She holds a bachelor's degree in social sciences and a master's degree in psychology. She has also done master's work in history, advanced studies in theology and doctoral studies in business, and social and medical ethics at the University of Louvain, Belgium.

Benita Horn
Principal, Achievement Architects North
Benita Horn is the principal of Achievement Architects North, Building Human Performance, which she founded in 1990. Prior to 1990 she was employed by US West, where she started in 1964 in Operator Services. By 1970, Ms. Horn was part of the company's management team, and over the next 20 years she served in a number of positions of increasing responsibility.

Ms. Horn is currently a member of American Society for Training and Development and sits on the Board of Directors Personnel Committee for YMCA of Greater Seattle. In addition, Ms. Horn is a Community Advisor for Junior League of Seattle, Inc. as well as a Teen Advisor and the Financial Secretary for the Seattle chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

Judy Huntington
Executive Director, Washington State Nurses Association
Judith (Judy) A. Huntington, MN, RN, is the Executive Director of the Washington State Nurses Association, a position she assumed in January 1999 after nearly 10 years on the executive staff of the American Nurses Association (ANA). She is a graduate of the University of Washington where she received both her BSN and MN. She is also the Executive Director of the Washington State Nurses Foundation and Vice-President of the Washington Center for Nursing.

A veteran of association work as both an elected leader and staff, Judy served in a variety of leadership roles at the local, state and national levels of WSNA and ANA, including President of WSNA from 1979-1983, Interim Executive Director in1983-1984 and as ANA Second Vice President from 1985-1989.

In December of 1998, Judy was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Kent State University for her work in health policy and advancing distance learning through electronic communications and development of the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, an award-winning peer-reviewed nursing journal jointly sponsored by Kent State and the ANA.

Judy has been involved in numerous community and advocacy activities ranging from environmental health, health care reform, support for public health, breast cancer awareness, children's health, immunization, and disaster response and preparedness planning.

Robert L. Jeffrey Jr. started his career in media in1991 at The Seattle Times. Jeffrey was selected as one of the first two Times Fellows, a program that gave him experience in advertising, corporate marketing, operations, new media, circulation and information systems. The goal of that program—to train promising individuals in the area of publishing—gave Jeffrey the drive to create ColorsNW Magazine, a publication about people of color in the Northwest. Co-founded with his wife, Minty Jeffrey, Jeffrey launched the magazine at age 31 to illuminate issues relevant to Northwest communities of color through high-quality, enlightening and thought-provoking content.

Jeffrey graduated from Hampton University with a bachelor's degree in business with a marketing emphasis. He has completed management training at the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, Kellogg School of Business and Northwestern University in Chicago and served in an operations internship at The Washington Post. Jeffrey is a member of The Breakfast Group and a board member at United Way of King County and Seattle Goodwill. He has served as Basileus of the Zeta Upsilon Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., for three years. Jeffrey is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Photo Credit: Amrita Huja / ColorsNW Magazine

John Long has spent his entire career as a health care executive in the Northwest. He came to Tacoma in 1986 as the President & CEO of St. Joseph Medical Center. In 1995 he joined the executive staff of Group Health as the Chief Operating Officer, based in Seattle. After 8 years of commuting daily from Gig Harbor to downtown Seattle, he decided to retire, which didn't last nearly as long as he anticipated. In January 2004, he returned to health care to join MultiCare Health System's leadership team as the Strategic Executive. As a result of an affiliation between MultiCare and Good Samaritan Community Healthcare, in October 2006 John became the first affiliation president of Good Samaritan, based in Puyallup.

John and his wife Sara, who also works for MultiCare Health System as the Executive for Philanthropy, are 20-year residents of Gig Harbor. No long commutes from Gig Harbor to Puyallup for John - he and Sara have taken a second residence in Puyallup!

Laura Rehrmann is President and CEO of the Group Health Community Foundation and Vice President for Community Responsibility for Group Health Cooperative. Rehrmann has been with Group Health since 1997, when she joined as Vice President of Development of the Foundation, Group Health’s philanthropic arm. In 1999, she completed the leadership phase of the Foundation’s first endowment campaign, which raised $8.7 million. She became CEO and president in 2000.

The Foundation awards grants to organizations throughout Washington serving children and teen’s health needs. It administers teen health centers in 6 Seattle Public Schools and has a team of health educators who travel the state working with teachers on nutrition and physical activity curriculum for middle school students. The Foundation also supports health delivery and research at Group Health and has a nationally recognized Evaluation Team which is working in 8 states to evaluate health projects and improve outcomes.

Rehrmann has worked for Meany Hall for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington; Catholic Community Services of King County, and most recently was Executive Director of the Seattle Central Community College Foundation. She serves on several boards including the King and Kitsap Counties American Red Cross, Leadership Tomorrow, and the Seattle 4 Rotary Club. A former president of the Northwest Development Officers’ Association, she is currently incoming Chair of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy in Washington DC. She earned her M.A. in Not-for-Profit Executive Leadership from Seattle University, is a Fellow of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy and a Certified Fund Raising Executive.

Kathy Spoor is the Director of Pacific County Public Health and Human Services Department .  Kathy graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from WSU.  She worked as a nurse in critical care for 4 years prior to her over 20 years experience in public health.   During her tenure in public health she has worked as a public health nurse in various programs and has served as the director for Pacific County for 18 years.

Kathy has been recognized at the state and national level for her work in rural health.  In 2005 she received the “outstanding Contribution to Rural Health Award” from the Washington State Rural Health Association.  She was also one of ten people from across the nation to receive the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award in 2005.  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recognized Kathy for her creative work in the community including opening of an Early Childhood Learning Center in north Pacific County, and in particular her work with the Shoalwater Tribe as they struggled with high rates of infant mortality in the early 1990’s and then again in 2000 when the Tribe was faced with pregnancy losses at nearly 60%.

Kathy remains very active in her community as well as an advocate for public health at the state level.  She serves on a variety of local and state Foundations, nonprofit Boards, task forces, and committees.  She is currently a member of the Washington Health Foundation Rural Health Advisory Committee.

Mel Tonasket was born on the Colville Indian Reservation. He served in the United States Navy, United States Naval Security Group. He worked for six years with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Colville Indian Agency, Colville Indian Reservation. He was a public affairs specialist for the Portland Area Office of the Indian Health Service, director of Indian Policy and Support Services for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, and service unit director for the Colville Indian Health Center. He also owned and operated the Omache Health Spa in Omak.

He recently retired as a member of the Colville Confederated Tribal Council (he had been a member for 20 years) and was formerly chairman of the School Board for Paschal Sherman Indian School in Omak. He was elected president of the National Congress of American Indians for two terms and first vice president for one term. He was a member of the congressional American Indian Policy Review Commission for two years and has represented United States tribal governments at the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and at the Inter-American Indigenous Conference in Brazil.

Mr. Tonasket has been married 44 years to Nancy Tonasket and has 3 sons and 4 grandchildren.

Mary C. Selecky has been Secretary of the Washington State Department of Health since March 1999. In February 2005 she was reappointed to the position by Governor Christine Gregoire. Prior to working for the state, Mary served for 20 years as administrator of the Northeast Tri-County Health District in Colville, Washington.

Throughout her career, Mary has been a leader in developing local, state and national public health policies that recognize the unique health care challenges facing both urban and rural communities. As Secretary of Health, Mary has made tobacco prevention and control, nutrition and physical activity and emergency preparedness her top priorities. Mary is known for bringing people and organizations together to improve the public health system and the health of people in Washington State.

Mary has served on numerous boards and commissions; she is immediate past president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, receiving the 2004 McCormack Award for excellence in public health, and is a past president of the Washington State Association of Local Public Health Officials. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she's been a Washington State resident for 32 years.

Trustee Ex-Officio

*Board as of January 1, 2009