Generations Health Care Initiatives elects Hoag, Crawford, and Patronas as board officers; adds Miller, Nichols Dauner, Michaud Novak, and Spreitzer to board

Generations Health Care Initiatives (GHCI), a private, Duluth-based foundation that engages the community in improving health for all, especially the underserved, has announced the election of new board officers and the addition of new board members.

New officers include board chair Jo Ann Hoag, retired hospital administrator and business owner; vice chair Carl Crawford, City of Duluth Human Rights Officer; and secretary/treasurer Steve Patronas, Senior Vice President at RBC Wealth Management.

Newly elected to the board of directors is Angie Miller, longtime community organizer and retired Executive Director of Community Action Duluth; Kim Nichols Dauner, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Health Care Management program at UMD; Yvonne Michaud Novak, self-employed estate planning and bankruptcy attorney at Law Office of Yvonne Michaud Novak; and Jim Spreitzer, retired Partner from RSM, currently serving on the board of trustees of the YMCA Heritage Foundation and is a member of the YMCA finance committee.

Other GHCI board members are Thomas Albright; Elizabeth Henderson; Julie Pierce (past chair); and Michael Slag, MD.

The GHCI staff is comprised of Executive Director Mary Rapps; Megan Halena; Sonia Kjos; Terry Leonidas, Sarah Nelson, and Brenda Iallonardo.

Generations Health Care Initiatives carries forward the legacy of the Andreas M. Miller Trust, which established Duluth’s Miller Memorial Hospital in 1934, the predecessor to Miller-Dwan Medical Center. After the merger between the SMDC Health System and Miller-Dwan Medical Center in 2001, Generations Health Care Initiatives was formed to explore and implement innovative strategies to address the region’s health needs.

The organization is located at 130 W. Superior St., Suite 700. Its phone number is 218-336-5700; its web address is ghci.us.