Keith G. Myers is our co-founder and serves as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer (or similar positions in our predecessors). Prior to joining us, Mr. Myers founded, co-owned and operated Louisiana Premium Seafoods, Inc., an international food processing, procurement and distribution company. In 1999, Mr. Myers was named Business Executive of the Year by the Louisiana Rural Health Association. Mr. Myers received credentials from the National Association for Home Care and Hospice in 1999 and was granted credentials by the Healthcare Financial Management Association in 2005. Mr. Myers has been an active participant in the Home Health Top 100 since 2002 and has participated in the preparation of numerous white papers and presentations to members of both the United States Senate and House of Representatives, specifically related to health care reimbursement methodologies. In June 2003, Mr. Myers received the Regional Entrepreneur of the Year for outstanding performance in the field of Healthcare Services and was officially inducted as a lifetime member of The National Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame in November 2003.
Congressman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin was appointed as our Lead Director in January 2005. Congressman Tauzin is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group that serves as one of the pharmaceutical industry's top lobbying groups. He served 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District since being first sworn in 1980. From January 2001 through December 2004, Congressman Tauzin served as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. He also served as a senior member of the House Resources Committee and Deputy Majority Whip. Prior to being a member of Congress, Congressman Tauzin was a member of the Louisiana State Legislature, where he served as Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and Chief Administration Floor Leader. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Entergy Corporation. Congressman Tauzin received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Nicholls State University and a Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University.
Monica F. Azare was appointed as a director in November 2007. Ms. Azare currently serves as Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for Verizon Communications. Prior to this position, Ms. Azare served as Senior Vice President-Public Policy and Government Affairs for Verizon Communications and before that she served as Executive Director and Senior Counsel of Federal Affairs for Verizon Wireless. Ms. Azare's distinguished career also includes service as Vice President, Federal Affairs for Insight Communication in New York and Chief Counsel to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin. Ms. Azare is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association and the Corporate Counsel of Women of Color, and she was selected as a 2006-2007 David Rockefeller Fellow. She currently serves on several boards of directors, including the New York City Partnership Foundation and the Louisiana State University College Advisory Board. Ms. Azare is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council. A Louisiana native, Ms. Azare received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University and a Juris Doctorate from the Southern University Law Center.
Senator John B. Breaux was appointed as a director in February 2007. Senator Breaux has served in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Most recently and until his retirement from public service in 2005, Senator Breaux represented the State of Louisiana in the United States Senate for three consecutive terms, beginning in 1987. Prior to his tenure as Senator, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987. Senator Breaux began his career in 1972 with his election as a Democrat to the Ninety-second Congress in a special election. At the age of 28, he was then the youngest member of the United States House of Representatives. Senator Breaux was re-elected to the seven succeeding Congresses and served until January 3, 1987, when he won election as a Democrat to the United States Senate. Senator Breaux was re-elected in both the 1992 and 1998 elections. As a member of the Senate, Senator Breaux was Chair and ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on Aging, a member of the Senate Finance Committee and a member of the Senate Commerce Committee where he was recognized as a non-partisan consensus builder. Senator Breaux is a Director of CSX Corporation, on the board of IMG, and a former Senior Managing Director of the Clinton Group, an investment advisory firm. Senator Breaux is also a partner in The Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, a partnership that offers strategic advice, consulting and lobbying services, which he co-founded in 2008.
Ted W. Hoyt has served as a director since August 2004. Mr. Hoyt has practiced corporate and tax law since 1977, counseling both private and public corporations. Since January 1999, Mr. Hoyt has served as the Managing General Partner of the law firm of Hoyt & Stanford, LLC. Mr. Hoyt was the co-founder of Omni Geophysical Corporation, which later became Omni Energy Services, a publicly traded company, for which he served as a director and officer from 1986 to 1996. Mr. Hoyt has also served as a tax attorney with the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Hoyt holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University and a Masters in Tax Law degree from Georgetown University. Mr. Hoyt is admitted to the Bar in Louisiana, New York and the District of Columbia.
John L. Indest currently serves as Special Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Indest is our immediate Past President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he served as an Executive Vice President and as our Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Home-Based Services, beginning in May 2001. Mr. Indest has also served as a director since June 2000. From November 1998 to May 2001, Mr. Indest served as our Vice President. Prior to joining us in November 1998, Mr. Indest served as President, Chief Executive Officer and co-owner of Homebound Care, Inc., a regional home health provider. Mr. Indest has testified before the United States House of Representatives' Ways and Means Subcommittee on healthcare issues and was co-chairman of the Louisiana Task Force on Ethics, overseeing compliance issues applicable to home health and hospice in the state of Louisiana. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Home and Hospice Care. Mr. Indest is a registered nurse with a Masters of Science in Health Services Administration from the University of St. Francis.
George A. Lewis has served as a director since August 2004. Mr. Lewis commenced his auditing career with Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1958. In 1963, Mr. Lewis joined the firm of Broussard, Poche, Lewis & Breaux, L.L.P., Certified Public Accountants, where he served as an audit partner until his retirement in 1996. Since 1996, Mr. Lewis has primarily served as an expert audit and accounting defense witness with respect to litigation involving various nationally recognized accounting firms. Mr. Lewis has served on various committees of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, including as a member of the Auditing Standards Board from 1990 through 1994, and as a member of the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Lewis has authored an education course to train CPAs to deal with issues of the elderly. Mr. Lewis holds CPA certificates in Louisiana and Texas and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Lewis received a Bachelor of Science from Louisiana State University. Mr. Lewis serves as the financial expert on our Audit Committee.
Ronald T. Nixon has served as a director since July 2001. Mr. Nixon is a founding principal of The Catalyst Group, formed in 1990, which has managed two small business investment companies, or SBICs, one participating preferred SBIC and six private equity investment funds. Prior to joining The Catalyst Group, Mr. Nixon operated companies in the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors. Mr. Nixon has served or currently serves on the boards of directors of numerous private companies. Mr. Nixon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.
Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD has served as a director since February 2010 and serves on the Board's Clinical Quality Committee. Dr. Thorpe is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management in Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. He also co-directs the Emory Center of Health Outcomes and Quality. Dr. Thorpe has held similar faculty positions in Public Health at Tulane University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Harvard University and Columbia University. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1993 to 1995. In this capacity, he coordinated all financial estimates and program impacts of President Clinton's healthcare reform proposals for the White House. Dr. Thorpe directed the Clinton administration's efforts regarding Congressional healthcare reform proposals during the 103rd and 104th sessions of Congress. Dr. Thorpe has testified before several committees in the U.S. Senate and House on healthcare reform and insurance issues. In 1991, Dr. Thorpe was awarded the Young Investigator Award presented to the most promising health services researcher in the country under age 40 by the Association for Health Services Research. Dr. Thorpe has authored and co-authored over 85 articles, book chapters and books and is a frequent national presenter on issues of healthcare financing, insurance and healthcare reform at healthcare conferences, on television and in the media. Dr. Thorpe received his Ph.D. from the Rand Graduate School, an M.A. from Duke University and his B.A. from the University of Michigan. Dr. Thorpe also currently serves as the Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a national and state-based coalition committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability and rising healthcare costs in the U.S., the rising rates of preventable and treatable chronic diseases.
Dan S. Wilford was appointed as a director in November 2005. He served from 1984 through 2002 as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System headquartered in Houston, Texas. Mr. Wilford also served as Chief Executive Officer of a community-based, not-for-profit, multi-hospital system in the greater Houston area. Prior to that, he was associated for ten years with Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was President of North Mississippi Health Services in Tupelo, Mississippi. He currently serves on the board of directors for one other publicly traded company, Healthcare Realty Trust, and twelve not-for-profit organizations, most of which are related to the healthcare industry. In March 2009, Mr. Wilford was inducted into Modern Healthcare's Hall of Fame.
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