Jesse Scheckner
Gov. Ron DeSantis added one new board member to the North Broward Hospital District to serve alongside four others he reappointed the same day.
The new member is Jennifer Nicole, a shareholder and business litigator at Gunster.
She has prior experience in public service through her appointment to the Broward County Housing Authority, where she helped manage housing initiatives in one of Florida’s most populous counties.
Nicole joins Nancy Gregoire, Jonathan Hage, Chris Pernicano and Paul Tanner, whom DeSantis decided to keep on the North Broward Hospital District’s Board of Commissioners on Monday.
Gregoire is a partner at appellate law firm Birnbaum Lippman & Gregoire. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and a past President of the Broward County Bar Association, reflecting her deep engagement in Florida’s legal and civic communities.
Hage is a U.S. Army veteran and the founder, President and CEO of Charter Schools USA, one of the largest education management companies in the country. In 2013, Florida Trend Magazine named him “Floridian of the Year.”
State records show Charter Schools USA has given $2.76 million to Florida candidates and political organizations since 1998. Of 324 state-level contributions, 218 were to explicitly Republican recipients, while 18 were marked as Democratic.
Hage has also given nearly $70,000 directly. In 2019, Hage was part of DeSantis’ education transition team.
Pernicano is the Chief Technology Officer at Synergist Technology, an artificial intelligence startup, and brings nearly 30 years of technology leadership experience to the Board.
His past roles include founder and CEO of Pernicano Enterprises, Inc. and VP of Engineering and IT at Netsmart.
Tanner is the founder and owner of Las Olas Capital Advisors, a private investment firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. His public service record includes roles on the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees, Florida Development Finance Corporation and Broward College District Board of Trustees.
The North Broward Hospital District oversees one of the state’s largest public health systems, operating under the brand Broward Health. It is a safety-net health system that includes multiple hospitals, community health services and specialty centers serving northern Broward.
The appointments are subject to Florida Senate confirmation.
