Fred L. Brown Named Chairman of Joint Commission Board of Commissioners

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) announced that healthcare executive Fred L. Brown, F.A.C.H.E., will become the new chairman of its board of commissioners on January 1, 2005.  The appointment was confirmed by the board at its November 19-20 meeting.

Mr. Brown was earlier the founding president and chief executive officer of BJC Healthcare, St. Louis, Mo., and was most recently a visiting scholar and executive-in-residence at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in the Department of Health Services Management and Policy.  He is also currently chairman of the National Kidney Foundation and serves as an international consultant. Mr. Brown is a past chairman of the American Hospital Association.

In addition to Mr. Brown, the following officers and executive committee members-at-large were elected for the 2005 year:

Vice Chairman: David M. Nahrwold, M.D., who is emeritus professor of surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago.

Treasurer: David A. Whiston, D.D.S., who is a practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Falls Church, Va.  Dr. Whiston is a former president of the American Dental Association.

Secretary: J. James Rohack, M.D., who is a senior staff cardiologist at Scott & White Clinic in Temple, Texas.

Executive Committee Member-at-Large: Mary T. Herald, M.D., who is a practicing internist and endocrinologist in Westfield, N.J.  Dr. Herald is a former chair of the board of regents of the American College of Physicians.

Executive Committee Member-at-Large: Gerald M. Shea, who is the assistant to the president for government affairs at the AFL-CIO.  He is in his third term as a public member of the board.

The board of commissioners serves as the Joint Commission's governing body.  Its membership includes representatives from each of the Joint Commission's five corporate member organizations, as well as six public members, the president of the Joint Commission, and an at-large representative from the nursing profession.

Source: JCAHO