Recently elected hospital board members sworn in

Three new board of directors for the Lee Memorial Health System were sworn in during the annual organizational business meeting Tuesday afternoon, along with two other board members who were re-elected during the November election.
Chris Hansen, Diane Champion and Donald Brown, the three new board members, were accompanied by family while Judge John Carlin swore them into office. Richard Akin, who has served for four years as a board director and 12-year veteran Nancy McGovern were also sworn in before the meeting began.
Champion said she could not believe she was sworn into office until she walked in her front door at home after the meeting concluded. Although excited to win, she did not expect to take all of Lee County during the election.
“Right now I am very inexperienced and am always willing to learn,” she said. “A couple of the board members have taken me under their wing to help me along.”
Champion said her duties as of right now are to watch, listen and decide as a board director because she has no medical experience.
“It will take me a year before I can grasp everything,” she said.
Brown said he is both honored and humbled to serve as a board member for the Lee Memorial Health System.
“I am very proud to be associated with the health system and am very excited to work with the administration and staff,” he said.
Now that Brown has been sworn into office, he plans on working on the residence program with the Children’s Hospital along with planning for all the “what ifs” for the health care reform.
He explained that it is all about maintaining and bettering the health system.
Hansen said he is also extremely humbled, honored and privileged to serve as a board member.
“People put their faith in me to serve and I am honored to be a part of the health system,” he said.
Hansen expressed that although he does not think the health care system is a one person job to tackle, he hopes to keep the Lee Memorial Health System running self sufficiently, so it can be sustained in years to come.
“I have been watching from the side line for the past year seeing how it operates,” Hansen said about the board of directors. “It is different when you move to the table and feel the weight of responsibility.”
The other board members include Marilyn Stout, Linda Brown, Stephen Brown, Lois Barrett and James Green.
Atkin was re-elected to serve as the board chairman; Brown, who recently was the board secretary, was elected as the vice chairman; McGovern was elected as the secretary and Stout, who had been vice chairman, was elected as the treasurer.