PrintWho are the people leading Marin Healthcare District?
The directors of Marin Healthcare District are elected at large by the residents of the District. Directors serve four-year terms, in which they strive to promote the health and welfare of the residents of the communities they serve.
Jennifer Rienks, PhD
Chair
Dr. Rienks was elected to the Marin Healthcare District Board in 2006 and currently serves on the Lease and Building Committee. She has a PhD in social psychology, and is the Associate Director of the Family Health Outcomes Project at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Rienks has served as research director for projects to prevent HIV and reduce African American infant mortality. She has also evaluated programs for cancer and diabetes prevention, and led needs assessment initiatives for the California Department of Health Services’ California Children’s Services program. Dr. Rienks also conducts training for staff from local public health departments throughout California on topics ranging from community needs assessments and intervention development to interpreting trends in health outcomes. Dr. Rienks has been a Marin resident since 1986, where she lives with her husband and teenage daughter. During what little free time she has, Dr. Rienks likes to garden and hike the spectacular trails of Marin.
jenrienks@aol.com
Harris “Hank” Simmonds, MD
Vice Chair
A retired physician, Dr. Simmonds was elected to the Marin Healthcare District Board in 2008. Raised in Sacramento, he joined the Army in 1956, spending most of his time in the 3rd Armored Division in Germany, where he served with Elvis Presley. Upon return to the United States, he finished his undergraduate and medical degrees at UCLA. In 1971, he began an obstetrics and gynecology practice in Marin, which he maintained for 35 years, before retiring in 2006. Dr. Simmonds was Chief of Staff at MGH from 1983 to 1985. He has two wonderful children: Gail, who works in women’s apparel in Novato, and Raymond, a PhD in Physics, employed by NIST in Boulder, Colorado.
hankmd@comcast.net
Larry Bedard, MD
Secretary
Elected in 2006, Dr. Bedard currently serves as the Secretary of the Marin Healthcare District Board. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Michigan. Dr. Bedard has practiced emergency medicine for more than 30 years. From 1979 to 2001, he worked in Marin General Hospital’s Emergency Department. Dr. Bedard is an active advocate on medical issues at the local, state, and national levels. He is former President of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), President of the California chapter of the ACEP, Trustee of the California Medical Association, and President of the Marin Medical Society. He has two daughters and enjoys photography and traveling with his family. His lifelong ambition is to be in the Oval Office when the president signs the bill bringing universal healthcare to the nation.
lbedard@aol.com
James Clever, MD
Director
Dr. Clever came to Marin in 1968 to be an Air Force physician at Hamilton Air Force Base, and has lived here ever since. He was elected to the Marin Healthcare District Board in 2006, and was reelected in 2010. He completed his undergraduate, medical degree, and residency at Stanford University, finishing as Chief Resident in Medicine. Dr. Clever practiced internal medicine/primary care in San Francisco for 35 years, served for three years as Chief of Staff at what has become California Pacific Medical Center, and taught at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine for over 30 years. His wife and daughter are also physicians. Among his other accomplishments, Dr. Clever has run in the Dipsea Race for 31 consecutive years, finishing “in the shirts” seven times.
jamieclever@hotmail.com
Ann Sparkman, JD
Director
Ann Sparkman has extensive healthcare experience and was appointed the Marin Healthcare District Board in November, 2011. Since 2006 she has served as Deputy Campus Counsel for Health Affairs at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to that she served as in-house counsel at Kaiser Permanente, and also held a senior position in compliance for Kaiser Permanente program-wide. In addition, she was an attorney in private practice for thirteen years, including serving as partner in healthcare law at Hassard Bonnington, LLP. Sparkman has a law degree from the University of San Francisco (USF), a nursing degree from UCSF, and an undergraduate degree in Zoology from University of California, Berkeley.