Prominent national doctor extends hospital board role

FORT MYERS — Dr. Sanford Cohen will continue serving as chairman of the Lee Health board and former Florida State Rep. Donna Clarke was named vice chairwoman, the hospital system announced.

Cohen is the former chairman of the Pediatrics Department at Wayne State University School of Medicine and chief of pediatrics for the Children's Hospital of Michigan, according to a release. He also served as dean and the university's provost before retiring as a professor. Cohen is a former chair of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners and served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the release adds.

Clarke, a Republican, served three terms in the Florida State House in the early 2000s, when she represented what was then District 69, which covers north Sarasota County and parts of south Manatee County. She's been an adjunct professor with State College of Florida and previously owned and operated an environmental consulting firm.

Lee Health also announced other newly elected officers of the board. That includes area mortgage banker David Collins, who will continue to serve as treasurer, and Therese Everly, a registered respiratory therapist and licensed Realtor, who will serve as board secretary.

“We appreciate the officers' level of involvement and we are thankful to have such an accomplished group working to further our commitment to provide the highest quality care,” Lee Health President Jim Nathan says in the statement. Lee Health is a nonprofit community health system and hospital.