BATON ROUGE – Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced four nominees to the New Orleans Academic Medical Center Initial Corporation Board, marking the next step forward toward creating the new Academic Medical Center in New Orleans.  In August 2009, Governor Jindal joined LSU System President John Lombardi, Tulane President Scott Cowen, Department of Health (DHH) Secretary Alan Levine and other New Orleans officials to announce an agreement of the governance structure.

The mission of the New Orleans Academic Medical Center Initial Corporation Board is to govern the Academic Medical Center in New Orleans and support efforts to compete nationally for residents, faculty and researchers; and invest in new equipment and technology, new lines of service and cutting-edge research. The initial Corporate Board serves to create the first Board of Directors. 

Governor Jindal said, “These nominations bring us one big step closer towards opening a first-class academic medical center in New Orleans that will provide world class care, train the medical workforce of the future and attract more research funding to our state. These individuals have exceptional experience in the business world, healthcare delivery and the ongoing recovery of New Orleans that will be essential as the new board puts together a business plan for the new hospital.”

According to the memorandum of understanding, the Board will be composed of eleven members. The Secretary of the Department of Health and the Commissioner of the Division of Administration recommended the members the Governor announced today. These four nominees will go before permanent members of the Corporate Board for approval.

The memorandum outlining the governance structure calls for the hospital to be operated by a non-profit organization run by an eleven-member board of directors.  LSU appoints four board seats, while one seat each goes to Tulane and Xavier University. One board seat rotates every two years between Dillard University, Delgado Community College and Southern University.

Non-Permanent Member Nominees to the New Orleans Academic Medical Center Initial Corporation Board:

Tim Barfield, of Baton Rouge, is currently chief development officer at Amedisys, a home health care and hospice services provider company. Barfield formerly served as Executive Counsel to Governor Jindal and earlier served as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission. He also served as the President of Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. from 2002 to 2003, managing the integration and operations of the IT Group, Inc. and Stone & Webster Environmental to form Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. Barfield will be nominated to serve as a non-permanent member, as required by the memorandum of understanding.

Donald T. “Boysie” Bollinger, of Lockport, is the President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. He formerly served as a member of the Louisiana Board of Regents, the University of Louisiana System Board and the Louisiana Recovery Authority Board. Bollinger will be nominated to serve as a non-permanent member, as required by the memorandum of understanding.

Dr. Christopher J. Rich, of Alexandria, is the managing partner of Mid State Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center. Dr. Rich serves on the board of directors for the Central Louisiana Ambulatory Surgery Center and Red River Bank. He is President-Elect of the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association, and is Chairman of Orthopaedics at Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville. Rich currently serves as medical director of sports medicine and adjunct professor at Louisiana College and Northwestern State University. He will be nominated to serve as a non-permanent member, as required by the memorandum of understanding.

David Voelker, of New Orleans, is the President of Frantzen-Voelker-Conway Investments, LLC, and served as a member of the Postsecondary Education Review Commission. He serves as Chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and is a member of the Teach For America Board of Governors. Voelker will be nominated to serve as a non-permanent member, as required by the memorandum of understanding.

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