TMH Board of Directors Appoints Four Members, City Approves

The City Commissioners approved the election of four Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Board of Directors members at their June 3 meeting. The TMH Board of Directors has appointed Claude Walker, Joedrecka Brown Speights, M.D., Hugh VanLandingham, M.D., and Joe Soto, M.D.

Election of Board members is subject to City Commission approval due to the terms of the TMH lease agreement. The City owns the TMH property, which was originally leased to Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center, Inc. in 1979.

Board of Directors members are not compensated and are responsible for overseeing finances, administration, and quality-of-care. Walker, VanLandingham, and Speights were selected for initial three-year terms beginning in Oct. 2020. Soto, who currently serves as Chair of the TMH Medical Staff, was chosen for a one-year term as the Immediate Past Chair.

Walker is the CEO of Summit Group Companies. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida State University and graduated from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. He has also worked for law firms and a private law practice.

VanLandingham is a family medicine specialist at Tallahassee Primary Care Associates. He attended Florida State University and graduated from the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Speights is a physician, professor, and chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health at the Florida State University College of Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Florida Agricultural and mechanical University and medical degree from Emory University.

Soto is the Chair of the TMH Medical Staff and an assistant professor at the Florida State University College of Medicine. He specializes in otolaryngology at Tallahassee Ear, Nose, and Throat, P.A. He received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University and graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.