Board of Directors
The John C. Fremont Healthcare District is a political subdivsion of the State of California, created in 1947 under the provisions of California Local Hospital District Law.
The District is governed by a publicly elected five member board of directors.
Candy O'Donel-Browne, Board Chair, has been on the Hospital Board of Directors since 2003.
Mrs. O'Donel-Browne acquired a BA in Psychology from Fordham University.
She owned KOA Yosemite/Mariposa Campground and RV Park in Midpines. After she sold it, she became the Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation of Mariposa County. She is now retired.
She is involved with a number of other community boards and committees, including Yosemite Gateway Partners, Mountain Crisis Services, the Mariposa County Arts Council, the Economic Development Corporation, YARTS, and the Midpines Planning Advisory Committee.
Code of Conduct
AB 1234
Linda Pribyl, RN, MSN, Secretary-Treasurer, was elected to the Board in the November 2014 General Election and began her four year term on December 1, 2014.
Mrs. Pribyl is a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing from Loma Linda University and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
Her healthcare career spans over 35 years, providing a breadth of experience in patient care, clinical research, diabetes clinical specialization, patient and staff education, nursing student instruction, public health nursing, case management, and hospital management ranging from unit manager to senior vice president. Her management responsibilities included hospital renovations, capital campaigns, new program development including feasibility studies and budget development, start-up of Medicare-certified home health agency achieving 4 cycles of Joint Commission accreditation including commendation, and management of home health, hospice and private duty services.
She has served on a variety of boards, including Federal Credit Union, Arthritis Foundation, Hospice Hawaii, Hawaii Association for Home Care, and hospital Governing Board. She has been a member of the Mariposa County Commission on Aging since 2001.
Code of Conduct
AB 1234
Philip H. De Bry, D.D.S. was elected to the Board during the general election of 2016.
Dr. De Bry was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from Whittier College with a BS in Biology. He received his DDS degree from Northwestern University Dental School in Chicago, IL. Following graduation he spent 7 years in the United States Navy as a dentist, leaving with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. While in the Navy, he practiced general dentistry, as well as Endodontics, Periodontics, Oral Surgery, Prosthodontics and TMD and pain management, as well as heading a large dental department. He was stationed in Hawaii and San Diego.
Upon leaving the Navy, he attended a two year Geriatric Fellowship, at Northwestern University Medical Hospital, again in Chicago and a one year residency in hospital dentistry at what was then, Valley Medical Center, in Fresno, CA.
Following his residency, Dr. De Bry purchased a dental practice in Mariposa, where he has been in private practice of dentistry for 22 years.
While in Mariposa, he has been a member and president of the Mariposa Rotary and served on several local boards and volunteer positions.
Code of Conduct
AB 1234
Brenda Forrest, M.D. was appointed to the Board November 2019.
Dr. Forrest is a retired Internal Medicine physician who comes to the John C. Fremont Healthcare District Board of Directors after having served on the Governing Board of Adventist Health Sonora as Chief of Staff, and after having practiced Internal Medicine for many years.
She graduated from Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) with a B.S. in Biochemistry/Pre-medicine, and went on to earn her medical degree from the University of Maryland, where she graduated summa cum laude and first in her class. Her internship and residency were completed at Beth Israel/Deaconess Hospital in Boston, a major teaching affiliate of Harvard University.
After attaining Board certification in Internal Medicine, Dr. Forrest practiced Internal Medicine in southern New Hampshire, in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Her leadership positions included serving as the Vice-Chairman of Medicine for Southern New Hampshire Regional Medical Center and serving on the Board of Governors for Southern New Hampshire Regional Medical Foundation.
After Dr. Forrest and her late husband moved to California, to fulfill a lifelong dream of his, she joined the medical staff of Sonora Regional Medical Center where she practiced Internal Medicine in the outpatient setting. While at Sonora Regional Medical Center she also served in various leadership positions including Vice-Chief of Medicine, Chief of Medicine, Chief of Staff-Elect, and finally Chief of Staff.
Since her retirement Dr. Forrest has been an active community member. She and her husband became firefighters with Mariposa County Fire and were awarded "Firefighters of the Year" for 2018. She also serves on the Mariposa County Commission for Aging and is on the Board of Directors for the Northside Ambulance Association.
Code of Conduct
AB 1234
Joseph E.C. Rogers, M.D. was elected to the Board during the general election of 2016.
Dr. Rogers has been in practice as a physician since completing his residency training in 1990.
Dr. Rogers received his bachelors degree at St. Mary's College of California. He attended medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee graduating in 1987. He returned to California for residency training in Pediatrics at Valley Medical Center and Valley Children's Hospitals in Fresno. Upon graduation, he entered practice in 1990.
For nearly a decade thereafter, Dr. Rogers worked in rural communities in the Central California Valley area. Recognizing a clear need for expertise in rural emergency medicine as well as primary care, Rogers entered the Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 1999.
Rogers returned to the Central California Valley area and established a multi-disciplinary physician group to meet the varied needs of the mountain community of Mariposa. Together with Dr. Marcus Shouse, Sierra Rural Physicians provided Emergency Medicine service at John C. Fremont Hospital beginning in 2006 and expanded to include professional physician coverage in the Skilled Nursing Facility and inpatient hospital.
Following 26 years of providing direct patient care, 11 years of those at John C. Fremont Hospital, Rogers has joined the faculty at California Northstate University College of Medicine and the John C. Fremont Board of Directors.
Code of Conduct
AB 1234
2017 Board Self-Assessment
2018 Board Self-Assessment
2019 Board Self-Assessment
2020 Board Self-Assessment
District Election/Vacancy Process