Officials released the names Monday of those who are part of a 21-member advisory group regarding a potential sale or other possible change for county-owned New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

According to a New Hanover County announcement Monday afternoon, membership includes nine community members appointed by County Manager Chris Coudriet and NHRMC president and CEO John Gizdic, five physicians selected by NHRMC medical staff leadership and five members of NHRMC’s Board of Trustees selected by the trustees. Coudriet and Gizdic will serve as co-chairs of the committee, a news release stated.

The members are as follows:

NHRMC TRUSTEES (chosen by the trustees board)
BARB BIEHNER, Coastal Carolinas Health Alliance director of operations
BRIAN ECKEL, Cape Fear Commercial co-founder and GHK Cape Fear Development partner
TONY MCGHEE, Liberty Bible Church pastor
JASON THOMPSON, NHRMC’s Board of Trustees’ incoming chairman and former New Hanover County commissioners chairman
DAVID WILLIAMS, Pender County commissioner
 
PHYSICIANS (chosen by NHRMC medical staff leadership)
SANDRA HALL, Wilmington Health OB/GYN physician 
CHUCK KAYS, Wilmington Plastic Surgery plastic surgeon and past president of the New Hanover-Pender County Medical Society
MICHAEL PAPAGIKOS, NHRMC Radiation Oncology attending physician 
JOSEPH PINO, vice president of graduate medical education at NHRMC, SEAHEC executive director and campus director of UNC School of Medicine’s Wilmington campus
MARY KATHRYN RUDYK, owner of internal and geriatric medicine practice Senior Health Associates and current chief of medical staff at NHRMC
 
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
VIRGINIA ADAMS, registered nurse and nurse education program consultant/former UNCW School of Nursing dean
SPENCE BROADHURST, president of First National Bank’s Eastern North Carolina region/former Wilmington mayor
EVELYN BRYANT, Northside Bridge Builders founder and chair of the county-city Community Relations Advisory Committee
BILL CAMERON, Cameron Management Inc. co-founder and president
ROBERT CAMPBELL, New Beginning Christian Church pastor
CEDRIC DICKERSON, State Farm insurance agent and vice president of State Farm Agents and Employees PAC
JACK FULLER, former: GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy board chairman, president and CEO of GEH, CEO of Global Nuclear Fuels and CFO for GE’s nuclear business
HANNAH GAGE, former: Cape Fear Broadcasting owner and UNC Board of Governors member
MEADE HORTON VAN PELT, Jo Ann Carter Harrelson Center executive director

More information is available by clicking the members' photos on an NHRMC web page regarding the potential changes.

“Members were selected to represent a diversity of thought and a range of backgrounds,” Gizdic said in the release. “What they have in common is a desire to choose the best path forward.”

Gizdic also said in the release that it was a priority to have equal representation on the Partnership Advisory Group between physicians and hospital trustees.

“The community will benefit from their knowledge and insight,” Gizdic stated in the release.

Dubbed "The Partnership Advisory Group," the group was created after New Hanover County Commissioners approved a resolution in a 3-2 vote on Sept. 16 to move ahead with getting bids from prospective buyers or management partners.

"The Partnership Advisory Group will help develop priorities for the Request for Proposal (RFP), select a minimum of five health systems that will receive the RFP, evaluate the proposals received and examine the options for maintaining county ownership," according to Monday's announcement. "The advisory group will then provide a recommendation on next steps to the Board of Commissioners and NHRMC Board of Trustees.

"A recommendation could include negotiating with one or more systems regarding proposals or pursuing other ways to support NHRMC as a county-owned hospital."

The hospital's board of trustees would have to sign off on any potential sale, officials said last week.

In Monday's announcement, Coudriet said the process will likely take a year or more and "include thorough research and open, public discussions."

Advisory members will be in attendance at New Hanover County’s public hearings, which will be held throughout the process, including a hearing from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the auditorium at Snipes Academy of Arts & Design, 2150 Chestnut St., Wilmington.

The announcemnt stated, "The group will also be briefing County Commissioners and NHRMC Trustees to keep them informed throughout the process."