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<p>A longtime Beaufort Memorial Hospital (BMH) physician and a highly experienced healthcare executive were appointed this month to the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees by Beaufort County Council.</p>
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<p>Board-certified interventional radiologist Dr. Eric Billig, a member of the hospital medical staff since 2006, and Dr. Kathryn McDonagh, formerly president and CEO of hospital systems in Texas and New Jersey, joined the nine-member governing board in March.</p>
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<p>Billig replaces Dr. Stacey Johnston, who served as a hospitalist at BMH for 10 years before leaving the hospital last fall. A graduate of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Billig completed both his internship and residency at the Norfolk medical school. Following a fellowship in abdominal imaging at Emory University Hospital, he joined Beaufort Medical Imaging, the radiology group that provides all of Beaufort Memorial’s imaging services.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>McDonagh replaces longtime board member and former board chairman Terry Murray, who rotated off the board in February. She brings more than 45 years of experience in the healthcare field to her new post.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>A certified executive coach for the last four years, McDonagh had previously served as vice president of executive relations for Hospira Inc., the world’s leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>McDonagh began her career in 1973 as a staff nurse in a Detroit hospital and earned a master’s degree with honors in Nursing and Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan. She joined Saint Joseph’s Health System in Atlanta, where she moved up the ranks from vice president and nursing administrator to president.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>In 1996, she relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to take the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer for Saint Thomas Health Services. She went on to serve as president and CEO of Saint Clare’s Heath Services in Denville, New Jersey, and CHRISTUS Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 2005, she completed her Ph.D. in Health Sciences.</p>
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<p>Over the years, she has served on more than two dozen boards and conducted her dissertation research on the effectiveness of hospital governing boards.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Other members of the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees include chair David House, vice chair David Tedder, secretary Andrea Allen, finance chair William “Bill” Himmelsbach, chief of staff Dr. Norman Bettle, Kathleen “Kathy” Cooper and Drs. Steve Larson and Faith Polkey.</p>
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