Meet the Board of Directors

F. LANE FRANCE, M.D.

Dr. France is the Medical Director of Pediatric Health Care Alliance and Vice Chairman of iLIANT Corporation. He is one of the founding pediatricians and CEO of Pediatric Health Care Alliance. He practiced pediatrics in Tampa, Fla., for 27 years with Tampa Bay Pediatrics. During that time he was an assistant and then associate clinical professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa. Dr. France currently serves as Chief Medical Officer of Pediatric Health Alliance, LLC, Medical Director of Pediatric Health Care Alliance, PA, and Vice Chairman of iLIANT Corporation. He is also a founder of KidsGrowth.com TM and serves as its Medical Director. Dr. France has been an active fellow and member of many professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Florida Medical Association and Florida Pediatric Society. He is a past president of the Florida Medical Association and the Hillsborough County Florida Pediatric Society. Previously, he was a member of the medical advisory boards of BabyCenter.com, Inc., Whittle Communications, Inc. and Special Reports TV, all health care information and media concerns. Presently he serves on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) national committee of Practice and Ambulatory Medicine, as well as on the Executive Committee of the AAP Section on Home Health. During the past few years he has also participated in AAP national work groups as well as being a strong advocate for children in his own community.

ROBIN HUTCHINSON BELL

Ms. Hutchinson brings 25 years of marketing and communications experience to Mount Carmel College of Nursing, where she directs the College’s strategic marketing and communications initiatives. Her areas of responsibility include marketing, public relations, advertising, media relations, internal communications, and events planning. Her background includes private practice consulting and establishing and directing marketing communications services in key healthcare organizations such as Mercy Health Partners in Cincinnati , Mount Carmel East Hospital , and The Toledo Hospital. She also served as a writer and editor with Owens-Corning Fiberglas and worked as a reporter and anchor with a NBC radio news affiliate in Toledo . A graduate of the University of Toledo , Ms. Hutchinson has taught courses in public speaking, group discussion, and interpersonal communications at both The University of Toledo and Owens Technical College . Her work in healthcare marketing and communications has received numerous national and state awards. Under her direction, the College was recently recognized by Admissions Marketing Report for marketing and communications excellence in categories of Annual Report (Gold Award); Total Public Relations Campaign (Bronze Award/ Centennial Celebration); External Publications (Bronze Award/ Centennial Brochure) and Total Public Relations Campaign (Award of Merit/Camp Mount Carmel).

Ms Hutchinson currently serves as national chair for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Nursing Advancement Professionals Organization (NAP), which is based in Washington DC. She is member of the Public Relations Society of America and is a past board member for the Ohio Society for Healthcare Public Relations, Common Cause Ohio and The Catholic Health Association National Communications Committee.

DENNIS F. KELLER, J.D.

Mr. Keller has been in the private practice of law since 1978 and is currently a solo practitioner in Perrysburg, Ohio. Mr. Keller is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. He is a member of the Toledo Bar Association and its Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Law Committee. Mr. Keller is also a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and its Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section. Mr. Keller is a past President of the Toledo Estate Planning Council. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Disability Law Committee, past chairman of that committee, and past chairman of its sub-committee on estate planning for the disabled. Mr. Keller is a member of the Internal Revenue Service Great Lakes Tax Exempt Council, providing liaison between tax-exempt organization practitioners and the IRS, and he represents numerous tax-exempt organizations, both large and small. He has conducted many seminars on estate planning subjects for other lawyers and published several articles. Mr. Keller is also a member of the Ohio State Bar College. Mr. Keller is rated “AV” (the highest rating) by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. He is very active in his community and church, and has participated in foreign mission work.

LARRY J. PLATT, MD. M.P.H.

Dr. Platt is currently Director of the Children’s Oral Health Initiative at the Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California - San Francisco Medical School. He is also working as an Outside Expert for the Special Master of the Federal Court in Tennessee on an issue related to the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program of Medicaid. Dr. Platt served in the United States Public Health Service for more than 25 years, working to promote community health through the Federal Community Health Center Program, “fathered” the National Health Service Corps, and administered children’s mental health programs at the National Institute of Mental Health.  He led numerous health improvement initiatives for mothers and children as Director of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in Ohio. Dr. Platt retired from the Public Health Service in 1993 and after helping to manage the Preventive Medicine program at the University of California at Berkeley, he directed Public Health Services for the State of Arizona. He then served for five years as Executive Director of the Dental Health Foundation, a non-profit public health agency working to promote the oral health of the people of California.

LISA SIMPSON, MB., BcH., M.P.H., F.A.A.P.

Lisa Simpson is the Adolescent and Child Health Guild Endowed Chair in Child Health Policy at the University of South Florida. She also serves as the National Director for Child Health Policy for the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality. She is developing a program to focus on pediatric outcomes and quality and helping to enhance the nation’s ability to measure and improve the quality of care for children and adolescents. Dr. Simpson, a board-certified pediatrician, was formerly the Deputy Director at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). During her time at AHRQ she spearheaded numerous initiatives to increase the quality and quantity of child health services research sponsored by the Agency.

She received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Public Health and also completed her medical degree at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Simpson received postgraduate training and fellowships from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, University of California at San Francisco’s School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of Community Medicine and Pediatrics as well as the University of Hawaii’s School of Medicine. She has received numerous awards including the Excellence in Public Service Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Senior Executive Service Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, and the DHHS Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for the development of a user-driven and integrated planning, budget, and evaluation strategy for the Agency. She has also been listed in the “Who’s Who in Health and Medicine” and the “Who’s Who in America” since 1996.

KENNETH T. WELCH, PINELLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER

Commissioner Welch was born in St. Petersburg and attended local schools, graduating from Lakewood Senior High School in 1981. He holds a BA degree in Accounting from the University of South Florida, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Florida A&M University. Commissioner Welch’s corporate work experience includes 14 years as a Disbursements Auditor, Senior Financial Accountant, and Financial Systems Administrator for Florida Power Corporation. In November 2000, he was elected to the Pinellas Board of County Commissioners, representing District 7. Commissioner Welch was reelected to the Commission on November 2, 2004.

In addition to his duties as a County Commissioner, Commissioner Welch serves on the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of Counties, Vice Chairman of the Florida Association of Counties Finance, Transportation and Administration committee, Chairman of the Pinellas County Information Technology Board, Vice Chairman of the County’s workforce development agency - WorkNet Pinellas, serves as the Commission representative on the Juvenile Welfare Board board of directors, and the Pinellas Homeless Policy Group. Prior to his election to the County Commission, Commissioner Welch was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the St. Petersburg Junior College Board of Trustees. Ken and his wife Donna have 2 daughters.

RICHARD WITTENBERG
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ACT FOR HEALTH (Ex-Officio Member)

Richard L. Wittenberg has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Adolescent & Child Targets for Health Foundation, Inc., (ACT For Health), since he founded the organization in 2002.  Prior to establishing ACT for Health, Mr. Wittenberg was the President and CEO of the American Association for World Health (AAWH), a position he held for over eleven years.  He has successfully directed numerous nationwide initiatives promoting public health education and community involvement in the improvement of issues as diverse as oral health, healthy communities, childhood immunizations, safe motherhood, HIV/AIDS, and mental health.  In testimony before Congress and in numerous publications and community presentations, Mr. Wittenberg has worked toward the recognition and resolution of major health challenges facing this nation.  During his tenure at AAWH, he greatly expanded the organization's reach, constructing a network of over 30,000 public and private organizations and individuals committed to public health issues.  In particular, he established strong ties with officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, further strengthening the efforts of AAWH.

Before assuming the leadership of AAWH, Mr. Wittenberg directed the Public Affairs Office of Ohio Department of Health for eight years.  In addition, he served as an educator, state legislator in Ohio and as an assistant to a U.S. Senator. Mr. Wittenberg presently serves as a Board member of the Partnership for a Healthier Pinellas and chairs its marketing committee and is a member of the Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas and the Pediatric Asthma Resource Action Team (Pinellas County Asthma coalition).

actforhealth@yahoo.com

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Page last updated: 06/15/2006

ACT for Health, Adolescent and Child Targets for Health Foundation, Inc., is an educational and charitable non-profit, non-governmental organization, tax-exempt under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.