The board of directors of Mazzoni Center recently brought on new leadership and members.
Last month, the board elected Dr. Jimmy Ruiz president and attorney Jason Cohen vice president. Ruiz had served as vice president since 2011 and Cohen as a board member since 2013. Bar owner Michael Weiss was elected secretary, and Wells Fargo Bank branch manager Christopher Pope was re-elected treasurer.
The board also brought on three new members: Dr. Marla Gold, Dorothy Mann and Kathleen Padilla.
Ruiz, 42, is an OB/GYN at Abington Memorial Hospital, where he has been employed since 1999, shortly after he earned his medical degree from Hahnemann University Hospital. He grew up in Staten Island and moved to the area in 1994 for medical school.
Ruiz said medicine was a career goal of his since childhood, although he initially intended to go into a different specialty.
“That actually was a surprise. I originally thought I was probably going to go into pediatrics or surgery,” he said. “I did not think OB/GYN, but I was exposed to it during medical school and it seemed like a great fit; everything else seemed to pale in comparison.”
Ruiz went to medical school with Dr. Robert Winn, who now serves as Mazzoni’s medical director, and was introduced to the organization in 2005 by his primary doctor, who sat on the agency’s board.
“He invited me to one of the fundraising events, and it was eye-opening,” Ruiz said. “I had never heard of the organization, so it gave me exposure and I wanted to get involved.”
Ruiz formalized his relationship with Mazzoni in 2008 when he joined the board. During his time as a board member, one of the agency’s biggest moves was incorporating the legal-services department that used to be housed at Equality Pennsylvania into its own agency.
“I was relatively new to the board when we made the decision to incorporate legal services. I’m really in awe of how that has flourished,” he said. “One would think that we’re a traditional medical center, and what would we need a legal-services department for, but it has really made sense and everyone involved has helped push it forward to a point where I don’t know if I could picture Mazzoni Center without the legal component now. It’s such a complement to our other services.”
Ruiz said he was surprised, but honored, when a fellow board member nominated him for board vice president in 2011. While not formally recognized as the succession plan, he said, the vice-president position is considered the stepping stone to the president role.
“I was honored by that opportunity,” he said.
The president term is officially two years, but Ruiz said it can be extended, as it was for the previous president.
Among his goals as president, Ruiz said, is to oversee the consolidation of Mazzoni’s services into one central location.
“It’s always been the vision of the board and of Nurit to try to find a new home for Mazzoni that would put all the services under one roof. So I would like to see us consolidate everything while I’m still seated as president.”