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RECLAIM HEALTHCARE WNC
Board Members and Advocates

RECLAIM HEALTHCARE WNC launched in October 2023, when a group of physicians wrote a letter to the Independent Monitor expressing their concerns about patient care and harm to the medical profession since HCA bought Mission Health in 2019. The Independent Monitor is responsible for overseeing HCA’s compliance with the conditions of the purchase agreement (also known as the Asset Purchase Agreement).

RECLAIM HEALTHCARE WNC is now a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

Missy Harris, BOARD MEMBER

  • Missy is a native of WNC and serves as co-pastor of Circle of Mercy Congregation in Asheville, NC. She worked as a Chaplain and as a Family Support Liaison with LifeShare of the Carolinas at Mission Hospital for 6 years.

Bruce Kelly, MD

  • Dr. Kelly came to Asheville in 1980 for his residency training at MAHEC as a Family Physician, retiring after 42 years in a host of clinical settings. He spent 30 of those years those deeply involved at Mission Health and completed his career at the Charles George VA Medical Center as Assistant Chief of Primary Care.

Julie Mayfield, BOARD CHAIR

  • Julie represents North Carolina Senate District 49, which includes all of Asheville and much of Buncombe County. First elected in 2020, she serves on multiple committees, including the Health Care Committee. Prior to serving in the Senate, she served on Asheville City Council from 2015-2020.

John Nicolay, BOARD MEMBER

  • Bio coming soon …

  • Miriam has been a WNC resident for 32 years. She worked at Western Carolina Medical Society as CEO for 14 years and retired in 2022.

Victoria Loe Hicks, BOARD TREASURER

  • Victoria is a visual artist, writer, community activist and retired journalist. She is a founding member of the Health Equity Coalition and SEARCH (Sustaining Essential and Rural Community Healthcare), both of which strove to protect local hospital services from the day Mission Health announced its intention to sell to HCA. She lives in Mitchell County. 

Kathey Avery, BOARD MEMBER

  • Kathey Avery graduated from WCU in 1983 with Bachelor’s degree in Nursing, working at Mission Hospital for over 30 years specializing for over 20 years in oncology nursing.

    Avery a founding member of the Health Equity Coalition formed to address community concerns about the sale of Mission. 

    In 2019 Avery formed Avery Health Education and Consulting LLC and in 2020 founded and is CEO of Institute for Preventive Healthcare and Advocacy (IFPHA). Avery helped develop Community Health Worker (CHW) initiative for the state of N.C.  Awards include Lillian Carter Award for Exemplary Nursing from Modern Healthcare Magazine in 2017, Land of Sky Regional Council’s, Carol McLimans Trailblazer Award, 2021, Asheville’s MLK Association, Rosa Parks Award and in 2022, the prestigious Ella Baker Brilliance Award by the Tzedek Social Justice Fund 2023.

Del Coufal, BOARD MEMBER

  • Jeri Legeay has practiced law since 1994, in the areas of business law and health care law. She has represented health care providers, managed care organizations, patients, and numerous business clients, and she previously taught a business law and ethics course at UNC Asheville as adjunct associate faculty.  She is a member of the State Bars of North Carolina and Michigan.

Nansi Greger-Holt

  • Nansi has been a RN for over 45 years and a Nurse Practitioner for over 25 years. Retired from Duke and UNC, Nansi currently provides advocacy and geriatric care management. She actively volunteers with AARP to deliver health education in the community and promote access to quality and safe healthcare.

Jacquelyn Hallum

  • Jacquelyn is an Asheville native and the former Director of Health Careers and Diversity Education at the NC Area Health Education Center and Program Director of the Medical Mentoring Program (MMMP). She serves on the leadership team for equity, diversity and inclusion and the advisory community for MMMP. Her healthcare background spans more than forty years with special interest in health parity, culturally appropriate care, and workforce equity and inclusion. She is an active advocate for social, gender and economic justice and values the experience of mentoring and working with marginalized youth; underrepresented students of color, first-generation college students and students in the rural areas of WNC.

    Jacquelyn has served on numerous boards and commissions in Asheville and Buncombe County. One of her guiding quotes is “If people knew better, they would do better.”

Robert Kline, MD

  • Dr. Kline completed his family practice residency at MAHEC in 1986. He practiced in the area until retiring in 2017. He was on the Mission hospitals board for 6 1/2 years and served as vice chief of staff for four years before that. He now volunteers at a local free clinic one day a week. Robert is committed to doing anything he can to help restore the remarkable quality and morale we once had at Mission Hospital.

Allen Lalor, MD

  • Dr. Lalor worked as an Emergency Medicine Physician at all of the Mission Health Emergency Departments for 27 years before retiring in 2022. He is a graduate of Brevard High School (1982), and his family has lived in WNC for 50 years. Dr. Lalor credits all the Mission Health medical teams, and nurses in particular, with making him a better doctor and a better person. He is horrified by the conditions under which the current staff have to work.

Jeri Legeay, BOARD SECRETARY

  • Del has held leadership roles within the healthcare and medical technology space for 35+ years.  He has led commercialization efforts for all sized organizations from GE Medical to multiple startups.  Del also served as CEO of the Appleton Heart Institute providing cardiac patient care.  He attended Duke University (B.S.) and University of Michigan (MBA).

Marvin Rogers

  • Marvin is retired after a 35 year career as a corporate and finance attorney focusing on renewable energy. Marvin was a partner with McGuireWoods LLP in Charlotte, NC for most of that time and practiced in Houston, Texas prior to that. He received his BS from Davidson College and his JD from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Marvin and his wife have lived in Spruce Pine since 2017.

Miriam Schwarz, BOARD VICE CHAIR

Aaron Sarver, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

  • Aaron has lived in Asheville since 2009. For six years he worked as Communications Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality traveling across the South in the fight for LBGTQ equality. From 2019 to 2024, he worked as Director of Public Affairs for Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller.

  • Steve Legeay holds a Ph.D. in Sociology. He has taught undergraduate sociology courses at several different universities.

Steve Legeay

  • Dr. Messino founded Messino Cancer Centers as a medical oncology practice in 1990, with a vision to provide quality cancer care with compassion and kindness and in consideration of the whole patient. Dr. Messino expanded his practice to include medical oncologist and advanced practitioners to serve at state-of-the-art locations throughout WNC.

Michael Messino, MD, BOARD MEMBER

Karen Sanders, MSN, RN, AHN-BC, HWNC-BC

  • Karen Sanders, MSN, RN, AHN-BC, HWNC-BC, Holistic RN Pt Advocate, founder of RN Patient Advocacy NC, PLLC, and the Holistic RN Patient Advocacy Training Institute®, has a BSN from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, and MSN from UNC-Chapel Hill. Karen has over forty years of nursing experience in diverse clinical, education and leadership positions including Critical Care, Nursing Education, Case Management, and Clinical Informatics. With a passion for helping others, Karen helps patients and families navigate the dysfunctional, healthcare system with less stress and more peace of mind.  Passionate about helping others, Karen teaches “Become an Informed Consumer Advocate for Your Healthcare,” to older adults at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC.  Karen has also co-led the Asheville Death Café for the last 11 years at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.  

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