Brevard Health Alliance CEO Lisa Gurri to Retire, Austin Helton Selected Successor
By Space Coast Daily // November 20, 2019
Brevard Health Alliance well-positioned for future
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Brevard Health Alliance founder and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Gurri has announced her retirement at the end of the year.
The Brevard Health Alliance began almost 16 years ago as the three Brevard hospital systems at that time – Health First, Parrish Medical Center and Wuesthoff Hospital – aligned efforts to expand access to primary care medical services for the uninsured and underinsured.
Gurri was instrumental in securing a Health Resources and Services Administration 330 grant to launch Brevard Health Alliance and begin the process of establishing an independent entity with a focused mission on countywide health improvement.
Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act created and authorized the health center program and permits the Health Resources and Services Administration to make grants to health centers.
What started with 16 employees and 2,000 patients inherited from Health First Charity Care Clinic, H.O.P.E (Health, Outreach, Prevention, and Education), has now become a countywide system for care for more than 53,000 patients providing medical, dental, behavioral health, OB/women’s health, and pharmaceutical services.
The Health, Outreach, Prevention & Education (H.O.P.E.) program began providing services in 1991 from a double-wide trailer in Melbourne’s University Park. H.O.P.E. was later recognized by the American Hospital Association when it received the organization’s Prestigious NOVA Award in 1996.
“It was a great success right from the start,” said Gurri.????
The Brevard Health Alliance is well-positioned for the future with a strong leadership team and a dedicated Board of Directors.
“I have had the extraordinary privilege of leading this great organization from inception and witnessed the greatest good of our community and the resiliency of the human spirit,” said Gurri.
The Brevard Health Alliance Board of Directors selected Richard “Austin” Helton to serve as the Chief Executive Officer.
Currently serving as Brevard Health Alliance’s Chief Financial Officer, Helton will assume his new role effective January 1, 2020.
Born and raised in Brevard County, Helton earned an MBA from the University of Florida and has been employed at the Brevard Health Alliance for more than 10 years.
He has worked under the leadership of Thomas Culbreth, Brevard Health Alliance’s former CFO, and served in several key leadership roles at the organization.
Helton is actively involved with several professional and community organizations including the Rotary of Melbourne, Leadership Brevard, the American College of Healthcare Executives and Healthcare Financial Management Association.
On behalf of BHA’s Board of Directors, Leadership Team, associates, and patients, we sincerely thank Lisa Gurri for her commitment, dedication, and leadership, and for the tremendous impact she has made in Brevard County. We wish her the very best in her retirement.
As Brevard County’s only Community Health Center, BHA is proud to be recognized as a medical and dental home where extraordinary patient care in a safe and caring environment can always be expected.
BHA physicians and staff focus on the whole patient, working to prevent health problems and reduce health risks.
