Governance Board of Directors
VOLUNTEERISM. LEADERSHIP. COMMITMENT.
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Polara Health is fortunate to have volunteer leaders who exemplify these qualities serving on its Board of Directors.
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STEPHEN POLK
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Stephen Polk is currently an associate attorney with Boyle, Pecharich, Cline, Whittington & Stallings. His professional experience includes externships with the Arizona Court of Appeals, Maricopa County Justice Courts and Community Legal Services. Polk earned his Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado College.
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ROBERT A. THOMPSON, MD
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Dr. Robert Thompson has served as the Executive Medical Director of Physician Care since October 23, 2018 and concurrently as the Senior Executive for North Central Arizona Accountable Care, LLC since February 27th, 2019. Dr. Thompson has been a physician leader for over 25 years including time in North Dakota, Oregon, Maine, and Arizona; these roles have included system senior physician executive roles in five integrated health systems. Other highlights include holding the office of President of the North Dakota Medical Association, appointed to the Oregon Patient Safety Commission by Governor Kitzhaber, and serving as a board member of the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership in Maine.
Dr. Thompson graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1985 and completed his internal medicine residency and allergy/immunology fellowship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 1990. Dr. Thompson practiced allergy/immunology for over 20 years in Minnesota and North Dakota. He continues to be certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. He received his Masters of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business (Minneapolis, MN) in 2000. |
MEREDITH PEABODY
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Ms. Peabody’s professional experience has focused on marketing, sales, service and operations management for consumer products and financial services companies, both domestic and international. She has served as adjunct faculty with institutions such as Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Northern Arizona University. She earned her Master’s degree in International Business Management from the American Graduate School of International Management/Thunderbird. Her community service commitments have included a Governor-appointed position on the Board of the Arizona State Historical Society; service on the Board of Trustees for Thunderbird, School of Global Management; and service as a public member of the State Bar of Arizona.
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DANNY BROWN
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Mr. Brown earned a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Ball State University and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. He has 22 years of experience as an educator in the K-12 public school system and currently is the Superintendent of Clarkdale-Jerome Elementary School District. He also has worked with the Humboldt Unified School District as Director of Federal Programs and School Improvement. During his many years in the field, he has dealt with many behavioral health issues and has seen the implications of these issues on his students.
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DIANA DALSASS
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Ms. Dalsass earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Chicago, and a Master’s in Psychobiology from the University of Connecticut. Prior to retiring to Prescott, she was a director of a national public relations agency based in Manhattan. In addition to her volunteerism with Polara Health, she also serves on the Board of Directors for the Polara Health Foundation as well, and she is a former Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Yavapai County.
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DAVID
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Dr. David Parrack earned his Bachelor’s degree from Rockhurst University with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. He went on to earn his D.O. medical degree in 1973 from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. Following his medical degree he began an internship and General Surgery & Urology residency at Phoenix General Hospital with Residency Fellowships at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor St. Luke’s Med in Houston. Dr. Parrack practiced Urology in Phoenix and Mesa for 28 years. He has always been an innovator in medical education serving as assistant DME at PGH and teaching preceptor for 5 different medical schools nationally. He has received many local and national teaching awards and was recognized as an adjunct faculty by Columbia University for his work in men’s health education. As a 17 year prostate cancer survivor himself, he remains active in teaching patients about prostate cancer. In 2005, Dr. Parrack retired from his surgical practice to become the Chair of Surgery & Anesthesia at Midwestern University Medical School in Glendale, AZ serving until May 2015. Currently he is the Medical Student Director for MWU- AZCOM in Prescott, teaching and mentoring 12-15 students each month as they train at WYGC, the Prescott VA Hospital and Yavapai Regional Medical Center. Dr. Parrack is Board Certified and a Fellow of the ACOS in Urology.
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MICHAEL FOGEL
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Michael S. Fogel is a recently retired educator who grew up in the Midwest, primarily the Chicago suburbs, and spent the last 27 years in Chino Valley, Arizona. After having been motivated by a couple of high school teachers/coaches, college coaching greats John Wooden (UCLA) and Al McGuire (Marquette University) and three time NCAA Player of the Year, Bill Walton (UCLA), he decided in his junior year to become a high school social studies teacher and basketball coach. He attended Lawrence University (1979) to study history and play on the basketball team to prepare himself for that career. His interest in history began with his father, who was politically/socially active, and taught him the value of questioning authority and commonly held beliefs in the pursuit of truth and justice. His desire to teach was spirited by one of his childhood heroes, John Kennedy, who inspired an entire generation of Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
His career in education was broad and vast. It started, after graduating with a BA in History/Education, with college athletics earning 1) an MS in Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and 2) several athletic department positions at several colleges and universities including Macalester College, California State University, Los Angeles and Northeastern Illinois University. His most arduous challenge at this time was as Head Women’s Basketball Coach for Northeastern Illinois University, where he was tasked with transitioning an underfunded NAIA program to an NCAA Division I program in three years. Concurrently, Mike and his wife Wendy added three boys to the family: Dylan, Haydn and Conor. The growing needs of a growing family and the stresses of the Northeastern challenge impelled Mike and Wendy to make a significant “quality of life change.” They targeted Prescott, Arizona as the next place to raise their young family. Without jobs and an uncertain future, they pulled up stakes in Chicago and moved across country to settle in Chino Valley, AZ. Mike quickly accepted in 1993 a position at Chino Valley High School as social studies teacher and varsity Boys Basketball coach. In circuitous fashion, he ended up after a 15 year diversion in the job he once dreamed of as a high school student in a quiet, little town in north central Arizona. After having moved his family’s residence 12 times in 10 years, Chino Valley had a settling effect on his life as he purchased his one and only home, raised three sons, all of whom graduated from Chino Valley High School, and proved himself to be an effective educational leader. He did live temporarily in or around Beijing, China from April, 2017 to June 2019, but never relinquished the original Chino Valley home. His success as a teacher and school administer resulted in being recruited to start in China an American style boarding high school for Chinese nationals wanting to attend a US university. Leading up to that appointment, he achieved several accolades for his work in schools and basketball court. He received regional Teacher of the Year and Coach of the Year awards and state and national recognition for his teaching of geography, history, and economics. His most gratifying achievements have been his students who were distinguished for their work as several of them have won regional, state, and national competitions. He led the Chino Valley Education Association (Arizona Education Association affiliate) as its president for four years during the historical height of its membership. After many years of teaching, he earned an administrator’s certificate through Northern Arizona University in 2009. As a school administrator, he was known for leading change and improving overall student achievement. “My greatest achievements have been a 40 year marriage with Wendy and raising three successful, productive and intelligent sons who are compassionate, caring human beings.” He currently enjoys delivering dry flies to unsuspecting trout, listening to and studying the “blues”, reading non-fiction, playing competitive duplicate bridge with his father, traveling and managing a new Airbnb with Wendy. He looks forward to serving on the Chino Valley Unified School District and West Yavapai Guidance Center Boards. |
KATHY MCCORMICK
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Ms. McCormick earned her Associate’s degree in Legal Science from American Institute in Phoenix, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona. Ms. McCormick is the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program manager for the Arizona Superior Court in Prescott. She has worked in juvenile justice, and held the position of Conflict Resolution Supervisor for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix. She is a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, and a Member of the Conciliation Court Round Table.
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LORA LEE NYE
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Ms. Nye was sworn in as a Prescott Valley Council member in 2003, and she continues serving the community in this capacity. Her additional community leadership roles include serving on the Northern Arizona Council on Governments Regional Council, the Head Start Steering Committee, and MATForce Steering Committee. Her professional experience includes 20 years in administrative and office management in the behavioral health field. Ms. Nye counts as one of her favorite accomplishments her graduation from the nation’s first FBI Citizens Academy.
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DAVID FERO, MD
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Dr. Fero holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Bowling Green State University, and served for 31 years with the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Psychologist, coordinating and delivering various Mental and Behavioral Health programs. He served from 2001-2011 as Service Line Manager for Mental Health for the Northern AZ VA Healthcare System, and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in mental health treatment and program evaluation. Dr. David Fero join the Polara Health Foundation Board in February 2017 to continue his lifelong advocacy of community mental health treatment and integrative healthcare. Dr. Fero is an avid bicyclist and commutes nearly everywhere within the City of Prescott. He’s also a trail builder with the “Over the Hill Gang”.
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SUSAN BELL
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Ms. Bell earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Arizona State University. She brings over 30 years of experience in social services and health care, including a seven year tenure as the Vice President of Planning and Business Development at Yuma Regional Medical Center. Susan has volunteered with a number of local non-profits since moving to Prescott in 2008, including CASA for Kids Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, and the Yavapai Humane Society. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Polara Health Foundation, having joined in late 2012.
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