(9/07/10) – McLeod Health announces the addition of three new members to its Community Board. Frank J. "Buddy" Brand, II, Kievers L. Cunningham, M.D., and Vinod K. Jona, M.D. have each been appointed to the McLeod Health Community Board.
Comprised of 17 members, including 11 physicians, the McLeod Community Board serves as an advisory board for McLeod on matters that pertain to the medical center and the region. Forming a bridge between physicians, management and the community to the McLeod Health Board of Trustees, the Community Board members review information on the quality of care provided to patients and offer quality oversight. These members also study strategic issues and challenges facing the Medical Center and offer recommendations to the McLeod Health Board of Trustees.

The Community Board Members are selected by the McLeod Health Board of Trustees. Members serve three-year terms.

Members of the McLeod Community Board include Chairman Dr. John C. Pittard, Dr. Walter B. Blum, Dr. William N. Boulware, Frank J. "Buddy" Brand, II, Robert L. Colones, Dr. Kievers L. Cunningham, Dr. Patrick K. Denton, Dr. Thomas W. Dickinson, S. Fulton Ervin, Leanne Huminski, Donna Isgett, Dr. E. Coy Irvin, Dr. Vinod K. Jona, Dr. Fred M. Krainin, Dr. Andrew H. Rhea, Marie G. Segars, and Dr. John W. Sonfield.

A Florence native and graduate of the Citadel, Brand is an investment banker with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. He serves his community as a Florence City Councilman as well as a member of many civic organizations including United Way of Florence County, CHOICES Charter School, Florence Kiwanis Club, Florence County Progress, Florence County Economic Development Authority, the community advisory board for the Junior League of Florence, Boys and Girls Club of the Pee Dee, Florence Downtown Development Corporation, Pee Dee Land Trust, and the McLeod Foundation Professional Advisory Council. He is also an active member of First Presbyterian Church.

Dr. Kievers Cunningham serves as a Faculty member for the McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program. He began his educational career at South Carolina State University where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. He obtained his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Cunningham completed his three-year family medicine residency at McLeod. Two of those three years in the program, he served as chief resident. After Dr. Cunningham graduated from McLeod in 2006, he cared for patients at Camden Family Care in Camden, South Carolina. He also spent two years with Healthcare Place at Elgin, a Division of the Kershaw County Medical Center, before returning to McLeod in a faculty role.

Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine, Dr. Vinod Jona cares for patients at Carolina Health Care. He received his medical degree from Kakatiya Medical College in Warangal, India. Dr. Jona completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Jacobi Medical Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University in Bronx, New York. He obtained his fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at Albert Einstein Health Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition to serving on the McLeod Community Board, Dr. Jona is a member of the McLeod Medical Executive Committee representing the Department of Medicine.