Board of Directors

Beverly B. Foster, RN, PhD: Chair
Janice McRorie, RN, MSN: Vice Chair
Tremonteo B. Crawford, RN, MSN: Treasurer
Pamela B. Edwards, RN-BC, MSN, EdD, CNE: Secretary
Mary Ellen Bonczek, RN, MPA, CNAA-BC
Gary Bowers, JD
Casey Cooper, BSN, MBA, FACHE
Karen Frush, BSN, MD
Polly Godwin Welsh, RN
Mary Ann Wilcox, RNC, MS, NEA-BC
Charles F. Willson, MD

Chair

Bev is a nurse educator with over 30 years of teaching experience, beginning at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in 1977. She has been a member of the nursing faculty at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 1981, and the undergraduate program director for the last 16 years.  Bev earned a BSN at Syracuse University, a MSN at UCLA, a MPH at the University of Hawaii and a PhD in educational administration at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She has a strong background in accreditation and regulation, first serving with National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission as site evaluator (1994-2002), site team leader (1999-2002) and Evaluation Review Panel member (1997-2002); and becoming a site visitor for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education in 1998.  Bev was elected to the North Carolina Board of Nursing (2001-2008) serving for two years as chair, and also chairing sub-committees such as Education, Practice and the Joint Sub-committee regulating advanced practice roles with the Medical Board.  Bev is the recipient of numerous grants supporting the development of nursing education. 

Vice Chair

Janice has taught Pediatric Nursing and Leadership at Queens University since 2004. Previously she taught at Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing since 1987 and has also practiced as a Neonatal nurse since she graduated in the 70's.  Janice has a Master of Science in Nursing with a minor in Education.   Recently she went to Switzerland, France, and Germany to study health care in other countries.  She has been given awards for her teaching such as Instructor of the Year at PHSON in 1994, Faculty Excellence in 1995 and NC Great 100 Nurses in 1995.  She was elected to the NC Board of Nursing 4 times and served for a total of 12 years.  She was elected Chair of the NC BON in 1999, 2000, and 2003.  She recently finished 2 years as president of the Mecklenburg Council of Nursing Organizations and currently serves as secretary of Sigma Theta Tau and secretary of the NC Council of Associate Degree Nurses.

Tremonteo has served as Chief Nursing Officer at Randolph for more than 6 years and been with Winston-Salem State University for more than 10 years. Among Tremonteo’s achievements has been the implementation of an RN-to-BSN program on Randolph's campus. The program offers RNs and LPNs with a 2-year degree in Randolph County and surrounding areas the ability to complete their BSN at Randolph Hospital.  Tremonteo was named Adjunct Faculty of the Year by Winston-Salem State University for her dedication to the field of nursing and outstanding performance as a teacher and professional in the community.

Mary Ellen is the Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive for New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Mary Ellen has the responsibility for leading and fostering the professional growth and development of the network’s 1,600 nurses. As Chief Nurse Executive of the Medical Center of Ocean County, Meridian Health Systems, she led the journey to become the 12th hospital in the nation to Magnet Recognition.

Gary is the Chief Operating Officer of CarePartners Health Services which provides a full continuum of post-acute health care services in western North Carolina.  He is a graduate of the Ohio State University School of Law and practiced with a large North Carolina law firm where he represented several health care groups and lobbied on their behalf.  Gary then served as the Executive Director and General Counsel of the NC Association for Home Care, a statewide group representing home health agencies, and later as a partner in Larson Allen, a health care consulting firm.  He then served as the Executive Director of the WNC Health Network, an alliance of community-based hospitals.  Gary joined CarePartners in January 2009.

Casey is the Chief Executive Officer of Cherokee Indian Hospital (CIH). He received a BSN from Gardner-Webb University, a MBA at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and is currently a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He has been involved in American Indian health care for 17 years and has served the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation (EBCN) and its community as a Primary Care Nurse, Community Health Nurse, Nurse Educator and Nursing Manager since graduating from nursing school in 1993. As the Health Director of the EBCN from 1999 to 2004, he helped shape public health policy with a focus on chronic disease prevention and lead a community wide initiative to assume the management responsibilities of the CIH from the Indian Health Services through an Indian Self-Determination and Self-Governance Agreement. Currently, he is a member of the WNC Health Network, the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) Health Committee, and current member and former Chairman of the Board of Directors for Smoky Mountain Mental Health. Casey and his wife, Jill have one son, Jack and two daughters, Kate and Mary.

Karen Frush, MD, is the Chief Patient Safety Officer of the Duke University Health System. A native of Pennsylvania, she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Nursing in 1981, and from the Duke University School of Medicine in 1986. She trained in pediatrics and served as Chief Resident in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke. She is now Vice Chair of Strategic Initiatives and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, and Associate Professor in the Duke University School of Nursing. She has served as Medical Director of Pediatric Emergency Services and Chief Medical Officer of Children’s Services. She completed the National Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship program and was named Chief Patient Safety Officer of the Duke University Health System in November, 2004. Dr. Frush serves on numerous committees and councils to improve patient safety and the emergency care of children, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, and the AAP’s Safer Healthcare for Kids  Project Advisory Committee.  

Polly has been a Registered Nurse for 33 years and has a certification as a Gerontological Nurse from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. In her current position as Executive Vice President of the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association, Polly focuses on long term care policy and quality issues. Current appointments include the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, the North Carolina Physicians Advisory Group (NCPAG) and the Editorial Board of the North Carolina Medical Journal. In 2007 Polly became Co-Director, along with Gordon DeFriese, of FutureCare of North Carolina. FutureCare is a non-profit foundation that serves as the conduit for the assessment and dissemination of state-of-the-art technologies and best practices related to medical/nursing care, as well as, those strategies for enhancing the residential life experience of persons residing in skilled nursing facilities. Currently Polly directs the clinical skills enhancement grant using human simulation technology that is funded by the Duke Endowment.  

Chuck considers himself foremost a pediatric physician and child advocate. He received a BA from Princeton University and an MD from the University of Virginia.  His residency in Pediatrics at North Carolina Memorial Hospital (UNC-Chapel Hill) was completed with a year as Chief Resident in 1980.  Chuck enjoyed private practice pediatrics for 19 years before joining the faculty at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.  An enthusiastic advocate for serving the less fortunate citizens of our state, Chuck has been actively involved in the development of a unique, physician-led primary care case management model for NC Medicaid patients.  For twelve years, he served as Medical Director for the Community Care Plan of Eastern Carolina, serving over 110,000 patients in 27 counties across eastern NC.  Chuck is married to Wendy Mulligan Willson and they have three daughters and two grandsons.