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June 28, 2007
Gov. deJongh taps Vivian Ebbesen-Fludd for top post at Health Department
Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr. Thursday announced the nomination of Vivian Ebbesen-Fludd, as Commissioner of Health.
Ebbesen-Fludd comes to the position with significant experience in
health administration and management. "Vivian brings tremendous
experience to the position with the required focus on the patient. Her
management of the Frederiksted Health Center and its transformation
from a division in the Department of Health to a self-sustaining,
non-profit corporation, responding to community needs is indicative of
her abilities," deJongh said Thursday. The Department of Health
is critical to the community’s provision of a health care system
that is accessible and affordable. It is paramount that the leadership
under its dual role as a regulator and health-care provider. "For me,
the critical concerns of affordable health care, operating hours of our
clinics, Medicaid funding and health care staffing are but a few of the
areas that must be the beneficiary of decisive decision-making and bold
leadership," deJongh added.
After receiving her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Creighton
University in 1988, Ebbesen-Fludd worked at the St. Croix Hospital and
Community Health Center in the Labor and Delivery Unit. Later,
she took up a position in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at
Georgetown University Hospital and then in the Labor and Delivery Unit
at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She received her Masters of
Science degree with a concentration in Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing
from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She then returned to the
Virgin Islands and worked as the Director of the Ingeborg Nesbitt
Clinic – Urgent Care Center, then later as the Executive Director
of Frederiksted Health Center / Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic and Federiksted
Health Care, Inc.
Ebbesen-Fludd has held these positions for more than ten years where
she has been responsible for program and service enhancement, federal
funding maintenance and expansion and implementation of the
territory’s only federally funded School Based Health Center
located on campus of the St. Croix Educational Complex High
School.
Ebbesen-Fludd has also served as a member of the Nursing faculty at the
University of the Virgin Islands-St. Croix Campus, Johns Hopkins
Hospital, Coppin State University, Union Memorial Hospital and the
Baltimore City School System.
Ebbesen-Fludd said Thursday, “I am humbled by Governor
deJongh’s confidence in my ability to lead this critical
department. It will remain my strong belief that health care is
not a “privilege” but rather a “right” for all
persons in our territory. I look forward to making great strides
for our community, which can only be accomplished through the support
of the department’s staff and creative community
partnerships”.
Ebbesen-Fludd is a member of numerous local and national organizations
and committees. She also currently serves on the Board of
Directors and Project Advisory Council for the Virgin Islands Perinatal
Partnership and has recently served on the Virgin Islands Department of
Human Services Head Start Policy Advisory Council.
deJongh expressed his gratitude to Dr. Phyllis Wallace who held the
position of Acting Commissioner for about six months while the search
was on for a permanent Commissioner. "I appreciate Dr.
Wallace’s efforts in leading the Department of Health during this
period of time, even up against some difficult moments in certain
activity centers of the Health Department," deJongh said.
The nomination of Acting Health Commissioner Ebbesen-Fludd is subject to the advice and consent of the 27th Legislature.
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