June 30, 2016
Austin City Council appoints new member to Central Health Board of Managers
(Austin) – The Austin City Council approved the appointment of Charles Bell, M.D. to the all-volunteer, nine-member Central Health Board of Managers. The Council’s Health and Human Services Committee recommended Bell’s appointment and he will be sworn in to the volunteer position in July.
Bell is semi-retired and works part time with Texas A&M Health Science Center as a medical advisor of the KSTAR physician assessment program, and as a part-time medical director for LeFleur Transportation. He served as the President of the Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute in Dallas, and as Deputy Executive Commissioner at Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) for more than eight years. In that role he coordinated policy development and initiatives between the Department of State Health Services, the Department of Aging and Disability Services and other agencies within the HHSC system.
“Central Health’s goal is to make our community stronger by investing in access to health care for our most vulnerable Travis County residents,” Bell said. “I want to use the skills and experience I gained at the state level to assist Central Health in achieving this goal. My 25 years of experience administering and managing state and federal public health programs gives me insight into health and fiscal policy issues on the state and federal level, which I believe will be beneficial to Central Health as they deliberate on complex local health care issues.”
Bell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from the University of Dallas and a Doctor of Medicine from Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He performed his clinical internship in internal medicine at Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut and later earned a Master of Science degree in Health Care Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio. He also completed a graduate epidemiology summer course at the University of Michigan.
Bell will take over the appointment formerly held by Lynne Hudson, a member of Central Health’s Board of Managers since 2010.
The Central Health Board of Managers is an all-volunteer board composed of four appointees from the Austin City Council, four appointees from the Travis County Commissioners Court and one joint appointee. Board members are appointed to four-year terms.
Central Health is here to make our community stronger by investing in access to health care for our most vulnerable residents. We are the local public entity that connects low-income Travis County residents to high quality, cost effective health care. We work with a network of partners to eliminate health disparities to reach our vision of Travis County becoming a model healthy community