Kelly Hayes
Gov. Ron DeSantis has made eight new appointments to the Florida Board of Nursing, none of whom appear to have served on the board previously.
The appointments include Mary Elizabeth Flippo, Jose Delfin Castillo, Fidelia Roster, Jody Rain, Heather Baumwald, Robert Macdonald, Deborah Becker and Christine Mueller.
The 13-member board is made up of seven Registered Nurses who have practiced nursing for at least four years, including an advanced practice registered nurse, a nurse executive and a nurse educator.
Three additional members must be Licensed Practical Nurses who have also worked in practical nursing at least four years. Another three must be consumer members who have never been connected with nursing.
All board members must be Florida residents and one must be at least 60 years old.
Flippo, of Palm City, works as the chief nurse officer for Tenet Health System’s Palm Beach Health Network.
Flippo previously served as the senior vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Martin Health System. She is a member of the Florida Hospital Association, American College of Healthcare Executives and the Florida Hospital Nurse Executive Council.
Castillo, who resides in Naples, is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist at TEAMHealth and Premier Endoscopy Center. He previously worked as a CRNA at Collier Anesthesia, and is a member of the Florida Nurses Association, Florida Association of Nurse Anesthetists and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.
Roster is the vice president and chief care continuum officer at Halifax Health. She is from Palm Coast, and is a member of the Florida Organization of Nurse Executives, American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Association of Operating Room Nurses.
Rain works as the director of the Emergency Department at Manatee Memorial Hospital. She is a member of the Florida Nurses Association, Florida Organization of Nurse Executives and the American Nurses Association.
Baumwald, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, is regional sales manager at Suneva Medical. She has also held sales positions with Zoll Medical, Johnson and Johnson, Phillips Healthcare and Medtronic.
Macdonald is the executive director of the Florida Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Foundation and the former Director of the Florida Dental Association. Macdonald is from Seminole.
Becker is a member of the nursing faculty at the College of Central Florida.
She previously worked as a nursing instructor at Ivy Technical College. Becker, who currently lives at The Villages, is a member of the American Nurses Association, National League of Nursing, International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
Mueller, who is from Sunrise, is the nursing program director for Keiser University.
She has also worked as the nursing clinical manager at Memorial Regional Hospital, and served in the U.S. Army.
She is a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nursing, Organization for Associate Degree Nursing and the National League for Nursing.
The appointments are still subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
