Wood River Health recently re-elected John S. Payne, Esq. and elected Kate Porter and Kalpesh Shah to its Board of Directors. John S. Payne, Esq. rejoined the Board in May 2022. He serves as the AVP/Compliance Assurance Officer for Washington Trust. Payne holds a Juris Doctor from Penn State Dickinson School of Law and an MBA from University of Rhode Island's College of Business. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Bates College in 2001.
Payne currently serves as a Board Member for Pine Point School and the Watch Hill Yacht Club Sailing Association. He has re-joined Wood River Health's Board, having previously served nine years from 2010 to 2019.
Kate Porter joined Wood River Health's Board in July 2022. She currently serves as Associate Director of Communications and Outreach at Brown University, where she provides strategic communications support for the 19 centers and offices across the Division of Campus Life. From 2019 to 2022, Porter served as assistant director of communications and public engagement for the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University. Prior to joining Brown, she spent a decade managing communications, development, and special events for nonprofit organizations, including the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence and South County Habitat for Humanity.
Kate Porter earned an M.S. in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University, a B.A. in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College, and is a proud graduate of the 2018 Xi II Class of Leadership Rhode Island.
Kalpesh Shah joined Wood River Health’s Board in May 2022. Raised in India, Shah has always had a philanthropic spirit. Throughout his life, he has connected vulnerable individuals with food, shelter and education. After migrating to the US, he launched Connecticut Fibers, Inc., exporting recycling material to paper mills in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Residents of Wood River Junction, Kalpesh Shah and his wife Jeanette are dedicated to ensuring their community has access to quality health care. Their support helped Wood River Health launch telehealth services, which have been instrumental in helping patients throughout the pandemic. They teach their children and grandchildren what their parents taught them: never forget to give back to your community.
Shah graduated with distinction from N.M. College, Mumbai with B.com degree and graduated with Masters degree in Cost accounting. He received the Partners in Philanthropy Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2021 for his contributions to Wood River Health.
Wood River Health’s Board Members serve as advisors that govern the Health Center towards a sustainable future by providing sound policies, safeguarding Health Center assets, monitoring and evaluating Health Center performance, and planning for the Long-Range Future of the Health Center to advance and preserve its mission.
The Board is comprised of local professionals representing banking, business compliance, finance, health care, and nonprofit industries. Each member has been selected due to their expertise in their fields and their commitment to improving the quality of life of individuals who live and work in Wood River Health’s community.
As a Federally Qualified Health Center, the majority (at least 51%) of Board Members must be patients served by the health center. They must, as a group, represent the individuals who are served by the health center in terms of demographic factors, such as race, ethnicity, and gender.
The Board meets monthly, and Members participate on committees that oversee the strategic initiatives of Wood River Health. These include the Executive Committee, Credentialing and Privileging, Finance, Governance, Quality Improvement, Strategic Planning, Building Committee and Gala/Fundraising.
