Board Needs Members that Reflect Region's Diversity and Have Direct Health Care Experience, RNs Say

Nurses from throughout Southwest Florida will gather October 25 to get out the vote for five Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board candidates that they say will promote improved patient safety at the hospital.

The RNs, members of National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC/FL), will participate in door-to-door voter outreach and phone banking to support the five-member slate that includes: Jody Davenport, RN, Cheryl Brandi, RN, Delores McFarland, HR administration (retired), Reid Schwabach, mental health counselor, and Kevin Connelly, small business owner. The slate members are all committed to expanding access to healthcare and maintaining the hospital in the public sector, nurses say.

“NNOC endorsed all five Democratic candidates running for the board because we are deeply committed to improving staffing levels and patient safety at Sarasota Memorial," said RN, Jody Davenport, herself one of the candidates.

"Our paramount concern is access to quality health care and that's why our slate supports expanding services in both North Port and Venice. As a nurse, I am proud to be on this slate because we represent a vision for a more responsive board, both in terms of diversity and inclusion of members with direct patient care experience.  The current hospital district board has no health care practitioners and our slate offers an excellent opportunity to change that."

What: Fifty nurses GOTV action supporting five-person slate for Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board

When: Tuesday, Oct. 25  - 2:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Where: Venice, Fla.

If you would like to cover the GOTV action or interview RNs and candidates please call Libby Devlin: 813-326-5845

NNOC/FL is affiliated with National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States with 186,000 members. National Nurses United is the nation's leading organization advocating for the health and safety of registered nurses and their patients, including policies supporting mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios, safe patient handling, workplace violence prevention and robust protections from infectious disease.