Baptist Health announces new board members and chairs

Baptist Health is pleased to announce the appointment of new officers and members to the Board of Directors of the health system, Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Baptist Health Foundation.

The boards play a key leadership role in advancing the mission of the not-for-profit, locally owned, locally governed health system to improve the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the community by enhancing access to high-quality health care services in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. The new leadership brings a diverse range of skills, knowledge and experience to the team.

“Baptist Health’s mission to improve the health and well-being of the community is strengthened by the diverse perspectives and backgrounds of our board members,” said Michael A. Mayo, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO at Baptist Health. “With their expertise in fields as varied as finance and transportation, we look forward to leveraging their insights as we continue to challenge ourselves to meet the evolving health needs of our rapidly growing region.”

The newly appointed board members will serve three-year terms.

Baptist Health

Newly appointed officers to the health system’s Board of Directors are:

Deborah Pass Durham (chair) is the founder and principal at Potentiae, a company that advises growing businesses. She has been widely recognized for her business and civic activities, including being named to a list of Top Women-Owned Businesses, being featured on Jacksonville Business Journal’s “40 under 40” list and receiving the OneJax Humanitarian Award. Prior to founding Potentiae, she was president of ATS Services, a national employment services company, for more than 15 years. Pass Durham’s other community involvement includes serving as both a board member and chair of the board for Baptist Medical Center Clay, Wolfson Children’s Hospital and The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. She also is a past chair of The Jacksonville Aviation Authority. She is succeeding Joe Barrow Jr., as chair.

Kristi Garside (vice chair) has more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in global financial services. In her 23-year career with Citigroup, she served as the head of Global Consumer Strategic Execution, Jacksonville Site President, Citi’s Florida State Leadership Officer and head of North America Retail Branch Operations. She has chaired or served on the boards of Baptist Medical Center South, Citibank – Nevada, United Way of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville Chamber, Clara White Mission, TPC Sawgrass and Executive Women’s Day Committees. She has been recognized for her community service by the following organizations: Jacksonville Business Journal (“Women of Influence” award); Girl Scouts (“Women of Distinction” award); Florida Times-Union (Eve Employment Award); and First Coast News (“12 Who Care” award).

The two new members to the health system’s Board of Directors are:

Diane Raines, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, is a nurse, health care consultant and former health care executive with over 40 years of industry experience. She is the principal of Raines & Associates consulting firm and has served as the lead faculty for the nursing leadership program at Jacksonville University. Raines served as senior vice president and chief nursing officer (CNO) of Baptist Health from 2004 to 2019. During her tenure, Baptist Health became the first multi-hospital health system in Florida to achieve Magnet designation--the gold standard among health care organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. In 2018, she was named “Caregiver of the Year” by the Florida Hospital Association and received the “Women with Heart” award from Volunteers in Medicine, a free health clinic for the working uninsured. She is past chair and emeritus board member of the MASS Clinic’s board.

Clint Drawdy has nearly 30 years of experience in the recruitment industry and is the chief executive officer of the health care IT staffing firm, iMethods, in Jacksonville. He formerly served as chair of the board of Baptist South. Active in the community, he is a member of the Rotary Club of Deerwood and a youth sports coach for recreational leagues and high school. Drawdy received a bachelor’s degree in humanities from Florida State University and is a graduate of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)/MIT Entrepreneurial Master’s Program.

Baptist Jacksonville

Asghar Syed, Esq. (chair) is a lawyer who specializes in complex business and employment litigation at the law firm Gunster. He has been recognized on Best Lawyers magazine’s list of “Best Lawyers in America” for the past three years and on Jacksonville Business Journal’s list of “40 under 40” in 2017. He received his bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and his M.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Florida. His community activities include helping to launch TEDxJacksonville, serving on the board of WJCT and serving on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee for the Jacksonville Bar Association. He follows Michael K. Diaz as chair.

Rachael Tutwiler Fortune (vice chair) has more than 15 years of experience in the education sector. She is the president of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, which works to close the opportunity gap in education by supporting K-12 education policy and practice improvements. Her previous roles include senior director at America’s Promise Alliance and a 2013 Presidential Management Fellow and program officer in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC. In 2023, she was recognized by the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council as a “Woman of Distinction” and was included on Jacksonville Business Journal’s “40 under 40” list in 2020. She has a master’s degree in education policy, organization and leadership from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Florida.

The three new members to the Board of Directors of Baptist Jacksonville are: Nathaniel “Nat” P. Ford, Sr. is the chief executive officer of Jacksonville Transportation Authority. He has received several awards and recognitions, including: the Sharon Banks Award for Humanitarian Leadership in Transportation in 2023 from the Transportation Research Board; the Honorable Ray LaHood Award in 2022 from the Women’s Transportation Seminar of Northeast Florida; the “2020 Outstanding Public Transportation Manager” award from the American Public Transport Association; and was named a “White House Champion of Change in Transportation” by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2016. Having served on and chaired a number of boards for industry associations and non-profits, Ford currently serves on the Policy Board for the Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP), on the Board of Directors of the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) America and on the Board of Advisors of UC Davis, Institute of Transportation Studies, among others. He received his bachelor’s degree in applied science in organizational leadership from Mercer University in Georgia and his M.B.A. from Jacksonville University.

John Kelly Wachira, MD, is a pulmonologist employed by Respiratory Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Associates and is on Baptist Health’s medical staff. During his tenure, Dr. Wachira has enhanced clinical care by advocating for dedicated cardiac intensive care services and by implementing infection prevention protocols across Baptist Health’s intensive care units. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the International American University and served as Chief Resident during his internal medical residency at Sanford School of Medicine in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He did his pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sanford “Sandy” Zimmerman is senior vice president of Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley. A Certified Financial Planner®, he joined The Jaffe Group in 1996 after receiving his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Florida. He has consistently been ranked by Forbes magazine as a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor. The Jacksonville native is active in philanthropy within the community. In addition to being on the board of Baptist Jacksonville, he currently serves on the boards of Dreams Come True, the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Northeast Florida and River Garden Hebrew Home for the Aged. He is past president of the Jacksonville Jewish Center, River Garden Foundation, and the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Northeast Florida.

Wolfson Children’s Hospital

Martin VanTrieste has more than 40 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. His previous positions include president and CEO of the non-profit generic drug company Civica Rx, and chief quality officer of Amgen. He is also the founder of Rx360, a pharmaceutical supply chain consortium. He was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare and a leader on The Medicine Maker’s “Power List of Industry Influencers.” He has served on the boards of the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) and the pharmaceutical company Phlow, and currently serves as chair of the board of SmartSkin Technologies, which supports pharmaceutical and equipment manufacturing facilities. VanTrieste has a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Temple University.

Baptist Health Foundation

Cleve Warren (chair) is Chief Investment and Advancement Relations Officer for Florida State College at Jacksonville Foundation. He is a former corporate banking officer, a financial advisor for professional athletes, and has served in executive leadership roles in both state and local government. Warren currently serves on the board of the Tournament Players Championship Advisory Board, Leadership Jacksonville, the Eartha M.M. White Legacy Fund, and the Jacksonville Public Education Fund Advisory Board. He is former Chair of the Board of Trustees for Florida A&M University, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, and a former Commissioner of the 4th Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission. Warren is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and a recipient of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal for his service to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Command Authority. Warren also serves on the board of Baptist Health. He succeeds Martha Baker as chair of the foundation.