Health Foundation names four new members to its Board of Trustees

The Health Foundation for Western and Central New York appointed four new members to its Board of Trustees at its recent annual meeting.

Also at the March meeting, L. Thomas Wolff, M.D., was elected chair of the board. Wolff, medical director of the Physician Assistant program and SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus in the Department of Family Medicine at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, previously served as vice chair; Joe Cozzo, a 2010 Health Leadership Fellow for the Health Foundation, was selected to be the vice chair. Cozzo is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a nationally certified trauma counselor who currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center; Vincent Mancuso, retired senior executive vice president, group audit and North America, at HSBC Bank, will remain as treasurer; and Sally Berry as secretary. Berry is the former senior vice president of policy and program development at Loretto.

The Health Foundation’s newly appointed trustees are Raymond D’Agostino, Cheryl Fisher, Joanne Haefner and Michael Shaffer.

Raymond D’Agostino is a partner at Hancock Estabrook, LLP. He is the Former Leader of the firm’s Health Care Practice and has been a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. D’Agostino has represented several hospitals and other health care facilities in central and northern New York. He is a resident of Auburn, NY.

Cheryl Smith Fisher is a partner of the Buffalo, NY law firm of Magavern Magavern Grimm LLP, practicing in the areas of employment law, commercial litigation, bankruptcy and professional responsibility. She is a resident of Buffalo, NY.

Joanne Haefner is the executive director of the Neighborhood Health Center, where she is also a nurse practitioner. Haefner was a participant in the third cohort of the Health Leadership Fellows program for the Health Foundation. She is a resident of Kenmore, NY.

Michael Shaffer has spent more than half of his career as a senior administrator for healthcare systems and hospital networks across central New York. He was most recently vice president of fiscal affairs for St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center prior to his retirement in 2013. Shaffer is a resident of Syracuse, NY.

“Our Board of Trustees has a very broad understanding of the major health issues facing the communities we serve. As the health care landscape shifts, they will bring their expertise and knowledge in identifying what the future of health care looks like. I am confident that their leadership will enhance our reach and impact across western and central New York,” said Ann F. Monroe, president, Health Foundation for Western and Central New York.