Memorial Announces 2025 Board of Trustees Officers

GULFPORT, Miss. – November 27, 2024 – Memorial Health System announced today its 2025 Board of Trustees officers. Bob Sawyer has been named Chairman, Dr. Thad Carter has been named Vice Chairman, and Cara Pucheu has been named Secretary. Carlos Bell (Past Chairman), Mercedes Carranza, Carrolyn R. Hamilton, and David H. White also serve on the Board of Trustees.

Sawyer was appointed to the Board by the City of Gulfport in 2022. He is the owner of Trinity Investment Services, LLC, as a financial advisor and has been in practice for more than 35 years. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Mississippi Public Broadcasting for 12 years. He currently volunteers in the Memorial Health System Emergency Department through the Memorial Auxiliary.

Dr. Carter was appointed to the Board of Trustees by the Harrison County Board of Supervisors in 2017. He is a retired board-certified urologist who served on staff at Memorial Hospital from 1980 – 2016. Dr. Carter is a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana College in Hammond, LA, LSU Medical School in New Orleans, LA, and he completed his residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, LA. During his tenure at Memorial, he served as Chief of Staff, Vice Chief of Staff, and Past Chief of Staff from 2010 – 2014. Dr. Carter was a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy. He is a Fellow in the American College of Surgery and the American Urologic Association.

Pucheu was appointed to the Board by the City of Gulfport in 2022. She is a resident of Gulfport and is the Vice President and CFO of Edge Financial Group, PA. She is a graduate of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. She was elected as Councilman of Ward 7 for the City of Gulfport in 2009 and was re-elected and served through 2021. Pucheu is a Commercial Registered Agent with the Mississippi Secretary of State and serves as Registered Agent for the State of Mississippi for a large National Registered Agent service. She has served on many boards, and she is a member of the Gulf Coast Business Council and the Home Builders Association MS Gulf Coast.

The Memorial Health System Board of Trustees is tasked with making strategic decisions that are based on four core strategies: Population-Based Services; Safety, Quality, and Customer Satisfaction; Work Environment; and Finance. Memorial Hospital at Stone County is governed by the same Board of Trustees. Board of Trustees meetings occur regularly on the second, third, and fourth Mondays of each month at noon.

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ABOUT MEMORIAL HEALTH SYSTEM

Memorial Health System has been serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast since 1946. Located in Gulfport, Mississippi, Memorial is a not-for-profit public community hospital organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and is jointly owned by the City of Gulfport and Harrison County. Memorial Health System includes an affiliation with Merit Health Biloxi, two hospitals (Harrison and Stone Counties) licensed for 328 beds, a state-designated Level II Trauma Center, two nursing centers, four outpatient surgery centers, satellite outpatient diagnostic and rehabilitation centers, and more than 100 Memorial Physician Clinics. Memorial offers several of the region’s most comprehensive clinical programs and medical specialties unique to the area, including a Level III Neonatal ICU and Mississippi’s first nationally certified Primary Stroke Center. Visit wearememorial.com to learn more.