Dogwood Health Trust announces board member appointments

Press release from Dogwood Health Trust:

Dogwood Health Trust is pleased to announce the addition of three members to its Board of Directors. The Board has confirmed Rear Admiral (ret.) Richard Houck (Transylvania County), Mr. Fred Jones (Macon County), and Bishop José McLoughlin (Henderson County), as new members. John Ball, M. D., J.D., rotated off the board, as his term ended in 2020. 

            “There is a wealth of talented leadership in Western North Carolina from which to select our directors, and these three are all great examples,” said Dogwood Health Trust Board Chair Janice Brumit. “Each of them brings a great deal of community knowledge, innovative thought, and demonstrated service to their roles, and we are delighted to welcome them to Dogwood’s board. We have no doubt that they will eagerly and effectively live into our purpose of dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities in Western North Carolina.” 

Richard Houck, who previously served on the Covenant Compliance Committee for Dogwood Health Trust, was one of only 30 officers at the rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Coast Guard. In his time with the Coast Guard, his responsibilities have included defending and executing an $8 billion budget to support all Coast Guard missions, working as the executive director of the Coast Guard’s Transition Team to move the Coast Guard from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security, commanding Coast Guard forces in the Pacific Northwest, and coordinating ground-breaking joint exercises between military, federal, state and local law enforcement forces following September 11, 2001.

Fred Jones is an attorney with Jones, Key, Melvin & Patton, P.A. in Franklin, North Carolina. His practice areas include civil litigation, mediation, real estate transactions, corporate law, and estate planning. Jones was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts in economics and philosophy, as well as a Juris Doctorate degree. He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

Bishop José McLoughlin, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, previously served on the Nominating Committee for Dogwood Health Trust. He was consecrated as the seventh bishop, and first Hispanic, of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina on Oct. 1, 2016. Ordained in 2005, McLoughlin earned his Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Central Florida. Prior to his call to the priesthood, McLoughlin worked in the criminal justice field serving as a police officer in Florida and in the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Bishop McLoughlin is committed to being fully engaged in the church’s ministry with youth, minorities, and underserved populations and is passionate about raising up a new kind of leadership for the church. 

Director Dr. John Ball rotated off the Board at the December board meeting. “We are appreciative to Dr. Ball for his dedication and commitment to Dogwood Health Trust,” said Janice Brumit, chair of the Board of Directors. “He has been a mentor and source of guidance for the board over his entire term and we are grateful for his leadership.” 

Dr. Ball’s retirement and the new board appointments are in keeping with Dogwood’s commitment to the North Carolina Attorney General to ensure broad geographic representation on its board. The full Commitment Letter is available on Dogwood’s website. 

            Dogwood Health Trust is a North Carolina nonprofit corporation with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities of Western North Carolina. Dogwood Health Trust became operational upon the sale of Mission Health’s assets to HCA Healthcare and is the recipient of the net proceeds of the sale. To learn more, please visit www.dht.org.

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