Board of Governors

The individuals that make up our Board of Governors at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Foundation (SVMHF) are dedicated to seeing our healthcare system grow and thrive within the community. SVMHF is proud to have leadership that seeks to benefit our community and the surrounding areas through exceptional service.

David E. Ramos, MD, FAAEM

President

Dr. Ramos received his education at University of Kansas Medical Center School of Medicine and completed his residency at Madigan Army Medical Center. He is certified with the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Ramos first joined the Foundation volunteering for the men's trail ride steering committee in 2010. After actively bringing the trail ride to a more profitable bottom line, he was elected to the Board of Governors in 2012. Dr. Ramos' leadership and enthusiastic support has been instrumental in engaging our medical staff, employees and community on behalf of our patients.

Read more about Dr. Ramos

Jeff Wardwell

Vice President of Governance

Jeff is a lifelong Monterey County resident and the second generation in his family to serve on the Foundation board. He is currently a member of the Executive and Governance Committees. Jeff also serves as Chair of the Founder's Cup Golf Invitational as well as Co-Chair, along with his beautiful wife Audrey, of the annual Children’s Miracle Network Gala.

In addition to volunteering for the Foundation, Jeff is a member of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System’s Committee for Community Advocacy where he works alongside executive management to ensure that the high-quality healthcare the system provides can reach all who need it. In his efforts to help extend that reach, Jeff co-founded the healthcare system’s new outreach program, S.E.E. (Screen, Educate, Equip). To help combat Student Athlete Sudden Cardiac Arrest, S.E.E. screens children for undiagnosed congenital heart issues, educates high school campuses in Hands-Only CPR, and provides facilities with an automatic external defibrillator (AED).

Sue Storm

Vice President of Development

Ms. Storm has played a key role in lending, sales and service with local area banks for nearly 25 years. Currently, she is Senior Vice President of Business Banking for Pacific Valley Bank, a locally owned and operated community bank. In addition to her long career in banking, Sue graduated from the University of California Berkeley and also earned her MBA from Golden Gate University. Born and raised in the Salinas Valley to a family whose deep agricultural roots go back five generations, Sue has been and continues to be an active volunteer in the area with Junior Achievement of Monterey Bay as past Chair of the Board, Past President of California Women for Ag, board member Ag Against Hunger, California State University Monterey Bay Business Advisory Council, Boys and Girls Clubs of Monterey County, Farm Day, Santa Lucia Rotary, American Cancer Society and California Rodeo Salinas, as well as several other organizations on the Monterey Peninsula and in the Salinas Valley area.

Tom Romans

CFO/Treasurer

Tom was born in Salinas and raised on a family farm in South Monterey County. After receiving his BA from UCLA and MBA from Cal-Poly-SLO, he worked in the Central Valley in banking and farm management. In 1992, Tom formed Pacific States Asset Management and has been providing large agribusiness operations in the Salinas and Central Valleys with financial and management services. He has served on the board of the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, Growers Harvesting Committee, Eastside Water District, Earthbound Farm and Taylor Fresh Foods. Tom Joined the Foundation Board in 2015.

Mitch Secondo

Assistant Treasurer

Mr. Secondo works at NewStar Fresh Foods. Mitch has a BS and MS in Math/Computer Science. He has 7 children, is a private pilot and is bilingual. He has served on the Boards of the Growers-Shippers Association, NewStar Fresh Foods, Western Growers Association, Bud Antle Credit Union and Bud Antle, Inc. Mitch also received a Commendation Medal from the U.S. Army and worked at NASA Spacecraft Center as Program Manager for Rendezvous Plan/Lunar Liftoff.

Carrie Doherty

Secretary

Mrs. Doherty is a returning member to our board. She has 2 children and has lived in Monterey County almost her entire life. She holds a BA and MA/CCC in Communicative Disorders from University of the Pacific. Carrie was a speech pathologist in a private practice in Los Angeles and the Central Coast. She has served on boards for the Washington Union Education Foundation and the School Site Council for San Benancio. She previously served on the Ladies Trail Ride Committee and the Berries and Branches Holiday Home Tour Committee. She was previously a youth leader for AWANA and Wyldlife and is currently a youth leader for Good News Club and a volunteer for the Monterey County Reads program through the Panetta Institute.

Sherrie Isaac, CPA

Member-At-Large

Sherrie returned to the Foundation as a Board Member in 2014. She previously served on our Cherry's Jubilee Board as the Admission Director. She is a Certified Public Accountant at Hayashi and Wayland in Salinas. She is the immediate past chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, the Treasurer for YOSAL and the Past Director of Finance for the California International Airshow. She has 2 daughters and 1 son-in-law and enjoys being involved in our community.

Norm Nelson, MD

Member-At-Large

Norm returned to our Board in 2015. He is a past president of the Foundation. He recently retired from his private practice. Norm is a past president of the Foundation and is a Board Certified OB/GYN.

Ray Borzini

Mr. Borzini, a lifetime resident of the Salinas Valley, works at 1st Capital Bank in Business Client Development. Prior to joining 1st Capital, he was with Prudential Insurance for 32 and was recognized as Prudential Insurance's top client development sales agent in the nation. Ray currently serves on the Finance/Investment Committee.

Esperanza (Espie) Castro

Mrs. Castro (Espie) is a retired Registered Nurse. She graduated from the University of Southern California Medical Center, School of Nursing 1982. She worked at Harbor UCLA Medical Center then later at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio as a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse. She served as member and later as President of The Premier Program Advisory Board, a follow up program for high risk infants. She also served as Program Chair for the Red Ribbon Anti-Substance Abuse Program of the North East Independent School District PTA Board in San Antonio. Espie is currently a Court Appointed Special Advocate of Monterey County.

Don Chapin, III

Don is the Materials Division Manager at the Don Chapin Company. He attended California State University Fresno, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and is a licensed civil engineer. He is married to Kim, they have one daughter named Madison and they reside in Prunedale. He's currently a board member of the California International Airshow Salinas, the President of the Monterey Bay Racing Team, a board member of the Associated General Contractors and is an event director for the Boys Scouts of America.

Arlene Dedini

Ms. Dedini has served as president of the King City Service League and St. John Business Group. She also served as Den Mother for the Boys Scouts of America and worked on the American Cancer Society Fashion Show for many years.

Mark Donovan

Mr. Donovan is a senior level retail/supply chain executive with extensive experience in both the US and Canada, and is currently the COO/CFO of Robert Talbott, Inc. Previous positions include, leading Collective Brands Global Continuous Improvement program, where he co-created the Lean Six Sigma program at Washburn University and has taught the course in the US as well as China and Latin America. Freidman’s Jewelers as Vice President of Merchandise Planning, Operations Finance, Distribution and a member of the CEO’s Operations committee, and he spent fifteen years with Blockbuster Entertainment in a number of senior level roles including CFO of Blockbuster Canada, Assistant Corporate Controller and Senior Director of Global Supply Chain Finance, where he led the Lean Six Sigma initiative.

Mark holds a BA in Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. He is a contributing author to the strategic sourcing book "Next Level Supply Management Excellence: Your Straight to the Bottom Line® Roadmap"

Mark is currently serving on the following boards: University of Texas – Dallas, C4ISN Advisor Board and the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Foundation. He previously served on the North Central Texas Workforce Board, the McKinney Education Foundation, the McKinney Community Development Corporation, the Motion Picture Foundation and the De La Salle College Board of Trustees.

Linda Grier

Linda lives with her husband, DL and son, Gino in Prunedale and is a partner at Aladin Properties and Ausonio Apartments handling all aspects of the commercial and residential properties for the family. Linda graduated from California State University, Chico with a BA in Liberal Arts and has her MA in Education Administration from Chapman University. Linda was Chamber Volunteer of the year 2006. She has been a volunteer diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for close to 25 years and in 2014 was honored with the Wendell Ayers Memorial Leadership Award for ocean advocacy and conservation. She is serving her fourth year as a member of Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council Board, Boy Scouts of America, Finance Chair for Santa Lucia District and committee chair for Troop 73. Ms. Grier is also a representative for Boronda Community Sanitation District to MRWPCA. Past volunteer activities in various capacities include: American Red Cross Heroes Breakfast, Castroville Artichoke Festival, Castroville Chamber of Commerce, North Monterey County Chamber of Commerce, Highway Safety Corridor Task Force, North Monterey County and Salinas Relays for Life, California Rodeo Salinas, California International Airshow Salinas, host parent for a number of students through EF Student Exchange Program. More recently, Linda designed, created and modeled an outfit made of hay bale twine to support the Alliance on Aging Trashion Show. Linda Grier is proud to be a second generation serving the Foundation for SVMH, following in her parents’ footsteps.

Butch Lindley

Mr. Lindley is the Vice-President at J and L Farms, Inc. Formerly Supervisor for Monterey County, Butch currently serves on the Juvenile Justice Commission, the Sally Hughes Church Foundation Board and the Monterey County Boys and Girls Club Board. He is an Agricultural Pest Control Advisor and has a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy from Cal Poly Pomona. He received the Bronze Star from the US Army for his service in Vietnam. He is currently part of the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association and joined our board in 2015.

Susan Merrill

A returning board member and Past President of the Foundation , Susan was also the chair of the boutique committee for our Berries and Branches event for 10 years. Mrs. Merrill’s late husband is Tom Merrill, a community leader who was instrumental in building SVMH. She has one child and two grandchildren. Mrs. Merrill attended Cal Poly and graduated with a BS in Home Economics. She has served on the Entre Nous Society, Valley Guild and Public Recreation Unlimited boards.

Carla Spencer, MSN, RN, CCRN

Carla is the Director of Emergency Services at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. She served on the American Heart Association board as the Regional Faculty ACLS from 2008-2012. She has a Masters in Nursing and is a Certified Critical Care RN. She is married and has 2 small children. Carla participated in the Summer Health Institute and the Medical Adventure Camp put on by the SVMH Service League. She joined our Board in 2015.

Rich Turner

Mr. Turner is relatively new to our area. He attended Creigton University and graduated with a RSBA in Accounting. He is married with 2 children. He has worked in the Senior Financial Management Food Industry for over 25 years and is currently president of the Meadows Homeowners Association. He joined our Finance and Investments Committee.

Orlando Rodriguez, MD

SVMHS Chief of Staff

Dr. Rodriguez graduated from University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and did his residency at Natividad Medical Center. He is currently in private practice and specializes in Family Medicine and Primary Care. He joined our board in 2015.