Board of Trustees

Tess Casados is a resident of the Tierra Amarilla area, a rural agricultural community located in the mountains of northern Rio Arriba County, and has served on the Presbyterian Española Hospital Community Board of Trustees since 2003. Ms. Casados is the retired executor director of La Clinica del Pueblo de Rio Arriba, having served in that capacity from 1992 through 2002. La Clinica is recognized as a model for rural health care delivery. Consequently, she is extremely knowledgeable in the special challenges of providing health care to isolated, disadvantaged communities with few resources.

From 2003-2006, she served as the assistant director of the National Center for Frontier Communities, the only national organization dedicated to the smallest and most geographically isolated communities in the United States. Ms. Casados served on the New Mexico Health Service Corps Advisory Committee from 1998–2003, was a member of the founding Board of Directors of El Centro de los Niños (a child development center) and currently serves as the secretary/ treasurer of her local domestic water association.

Mr. Gail Douglas comes to the Presbyterian Española Hospital Community Board of Trustees with experience as a retired owner/agent of a property and casualty insurance agency and a property management business owner and investor. He has a long history of community service including service on the City Council of Cedar Hill, Texas, planning and zoning boards, Chambers of Commerce, economic development boards and the North Texas Jurisprudence Board. He served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of Charlton Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas and was a member of the Planning Committee of the Methodist Health Care System.

Mr. Douglas received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, Austin, has done graduate work at Kent State University, and is a veteran of the United States Air Force.

Gregg Ferran is a member of the Presbyterian Española Hospital Community Board of Trustees.

Mr. Ferran was born at Presbyterian Española Hospital, where his grandmother worked and his mother and aunts served as auxilians. Following this tradition, Mr. Ferran became the first male auxiliary president at Presbyterian Española Hospital. In his career, Mr. Ferran has managed several health and human services non-profit agencies, including People Living Through Cancer, Cuidando Los Ninos, Family Focus Center and New Mexico AIDS Services.

Mr. Ferran received his bachelor's degree and a master’s degree in business at the University of New Mexico. He is also an accomplished grant writer.

George Gutierrez is Native American from the Pueblo of Santa Clara, located south of the Española Valley. He has served the Pueblo and the Valley in various capacities over the years, including as Chairman of the Valley National Bank Board of Directors, Chairman of the Valley National Bank Asset Corporation Board, and Chairman of the Santa Clara Pueblo Tax Commission. He has been elected as a tribal official several times, and has served the Pueblo as a Council Member for over 20 years. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico.

Mr. Gutierrez is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is co-owner and Vice-President of the CPA firm, Macias, Gutierrez and Company, located in Española. As such, he brings vast knowledge and experience in financial and budgetary analysis to the Board. He is an advocate for access to quality health care for all people, as well as educational, scholarship and job opportunities for minorities in health care.

Mr. Gutierrez is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Mexico Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is currently licensed as a CPA through the NM State Board of Public Accountancy.

Mary Beth Lujan is a member of the Presbyterian Española Hospital Community Board of Trustees.

Ms. Lujan is currently employed by Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she provides expertise in training and qualification program development for various commercial and education contexts, including highly regulated industries such as nuclear facilities. She provides extensive experience in regulatory, needs and process analysis, developing innovative approaches and long-term process improvement.

Ms. Lujan received a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and a master’s degree in training and learning technologies from the University of New Mexico.

Brenda Romero has over 25 years of experience in nursing. As Administrator and previous Director of Nursing and Patient Care Services at Española Hospital, Ms. Romero dedicated her personal and professional life toward enriching the health and well-being of northern New Mexico. She is well known for her volunteer work to address the serious and ever growing problem of drug addiction and domestic violence in Española.

Ms. Romero is a life-long northern New Mexico resident and serves on a number of boards and committees within the hospital, including: the Presbyterian Española Hospital Community Board of Trustees, the Medical Executive Committee, the Medical Quality Assurance Committee, and the Medical Staff Committee. She is a member of the Infection, Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, the Patient Care Committee and the Environment of Care Committee. In the community, Ms. Romero volunteers as a member of the Nursing Department Advisory Board for both Northern New Mexico Community College and Santa Fe Community College, and previously served on the Governor's Drug Prevention Task Force.

Lonnie Sanchez is a member of the Presbyterian Española Hospital Community Board of Trustees.

Mr. Sanchez has more than 20 years of experience as a supervisor and technical project manager in highly regulated industries, including time employed by Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Mr. Sanchez received a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in human resource management from the College of Santa Fe. He served in the United States Army and is a certified six sigma yellow belt in process improvement projects.

Dr. Valdez was born and raised in New Mexico. He served in the United States Air Force, after which he attended New Mexico State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. He received his medical degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and subsequently earned a Master’s in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He is board certified in Aerospace Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

Dr. Valdez attended medical school as part of the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program, and completed a surgery internship at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.

He participated in Flight Surgeon and Undersea Medical Officer trainings, and subsequently served tours as a FS/UMO in Guam and Bermuda. He then completed a residency in Preventive Medicine (Aerospace), and went on to serve as Senior Medical Officer, USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and subsequently as Wing Surgeon, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, in Okinawa, Japan. During the last nine years of his naval career, he served as Director, Special Programs; Command Diving Medical Officer; Director, Aerospace Medicine Residency; and Officer in Charge, Naval Aerospace Medical Institute, at the Naval Operational Medicine Institute in Pensacola, Florida.

Dr. Valdez retired from naval service and joined the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Field Staff. He also worked for Concentra Clinics in Albuquerque, NM.