Governor McCrory Announces Appointments | Eastern North Carolina Now

News Release:

    Raleigh, N.C.     The Office of Governor Pat McCrory announced the following appointments today:

    North Carolina Medical Board

     •  Dr. Bryant Murphy (Cumberland County) - Murphy is an associate professor of anesthesiology at UNC-Chapel Hill and the vice chairman of clinical operations for the Department of Anesthesiology for UNC Health Care.

     •  Dr. Pascal Udekwu (Wake County) - Udekwu is a general surgeon who is also board-certified in general surgery, pediatrics and surgical critical care. This is a reappointment.

     •  The Honorable Ralph Walker (Guilford County) - Walker is a retired judge, having served as both a Superior Court judge and on the Court of Appeals.

     •  Dr. Cheryl Walker-McGill (Mecklenburg County) - Walker-McGill is an adjunct professor at the Wingate Graduate School of Business in Charlotte. This is a reappointment.

    The board regulates the practice of medicine and surgery for the benefit and protection of the people of the state. The term length is three years.

    North Carolina Minority Health Advisory Council

     •  Septina Florimonte (Wake County) - Florimonte is a clinician nurse with more than 10 years clinical nursing experience and is the president-elect of the Unit Practice Council at her hospital.

     •  Adrienne Kennedy-Gayton (Wake County) - Kennedy-Gayton is a nurse analyst for Computer Science Corporation in Raleigh.

    The council makes recommendations to the governor and secretary of Health and Human Services that are aimed at improving the health status of the state's minority populations. Each term length is four years.

    North Carolina Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

     •  Craig Blevins (Davidson County) - Blevins is president of the North Carolina Association of the Deaf.

     •  Deborah Stroud (Wake County) - Stroud is the executive secretary at BEGINNINGS for Parents of Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. This is a reappointment.

     •  Timothy Boyd (Wake County) - Boyd is alliances manager for Dimension Data AM Inc.

     •  Meredith Kaplan (Guilford County) - Kaplan previously worked as senior learning center assistant at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

    The council makes recommendations to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for cost-effective provisions, coordination and improvement of services to people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf and blind. The term length is four years.

    Professional Advisory Committee

     •  Dr. Daniel Bernstein (Vance County) - Bernstein is an ophthalmologist in Henderson. This is a reappointment.

     •  Dr. Shree Kurup (Forsyth County) - Kurup is an ophthalmologist in Winston-Salem. This is a reappointment.

     •  Dr. Laurel Gropper (Chatham County) - Gropper has been a primary care optometrist for 29 years. This is a reappointment.

     •  Dr. Eric Fogleman (Moore County) - Fogleman is an optometric physician.

     •  William Thompson (Davidson County) - Thompson is an associate with Moore Optometric Eye Center. This is a reappointment.

     •  Gina Royall (Durham County) - Royall is a certified contact lens optician. This is a reappointment.

     •  Michael Szczerbiak (Granville County) - Szczerbiak is the opticianry program director and an instructor at Durham Technical Community College. This is a reappointment.

    The committee advises the Commission for the Blind on matters concerning or pertaining to the procurement and rendering of professional services to the beneficiaries of the commission's aid and services. The term length is three years.


    Contact: Crystal Feldman
       govpress@nc.gov