Who we are > Board of Directors

Visiting Nurse Association of the Treasure Coast, Inc.

Robin Blanton, Chairman
Robin Blanton is a third generation Floridian who has over thirty years of experience as a civil trial lawyer in Vero Beach. He received his undergraduate degree from Stetson University in 1973, and continued his education by studying law at Stetson University College of Law, graduating in 1977. Blanton has gained admission to the Florida Bar, the trial bar of the United States Southern District of Florida, the United States District Court of Florida Bar - Middle District, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Blanton has served both local and state bar associations, and is a past president of the Indian River County Bar Association. He has been a recipient of the Pro Bono Service Award for Indian River County, a member of the Grievance Committee for the 19th Judicial Circuit, and a member of the Florida Bar Association’s Committee on Professionalism. Blanton has been serving the VNA as board chairman for Indian River County since 2007, and began serving as vice chairman for VNA of the Treasure Coast in 2010

Ann Marie McCrystal, Past Chairman

Julie Vargo-O'Brien, Vice Chairman

Andy Taylor, Treasurer

Allison Proctor, Secretary

Becky Allen

Susan Bailey

Kimberle Beckett

David Becker, MD

Art Castillo

Peter Chase

Hon. Cynthia Cox

Jane Coyle

Ford Fegert

Carol Kanarek

Michael Kmetz

James Large, MD

Kyle Morgan

Paul Nezi

Fran Pieck

Tom Tierney 

Andy Williams

 

 Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Foundation, Inc.

Carol Kanarek, Chairman
Carol has vast experience serving the VNA of the Treasure Coast, beginning as a member of the Hospice Board in 1992 and becoming chairman in 1997. She has also been a member of the VNA Treasure Coast Board and served as its chairman from 2002 to 2006. More recently, Carol joined the VNA & Hospice Foundation Board, serving as vice chairman since 2005 before taking over as chairman in early 2010. Carol graduated from the University of Florida in 1973 with a B.A. degree and moved to Vero Beach in 1974. She has over twenty years of experience serving as branch manager of First Union National Bank. Carol is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and a recipient of their “Unsung Hero Award.” She is actively involved with Riverside Children’s Theatre and served on its board from 1999 to 2000. Carol is married to Circuit Court Judge Paul Kanarek and they have two children.

 Ann Marie McCrystal, Immediate Past Chairman

John Campione, Vice Chairman

Kathie Pierce, Vice Chairman

Don Keller, Treasurer

Lala Maresi, Secretary

Thomas Lee, Assistant Secretary

Judy Caldwell

Anne Cooney

Ann Jones

Joan Kasten

Jan McCoy

Jack Mitchell

Paul Nezi

Marta Schneider

Bill Stewart

Sue Tompkins

W. Andrew White

 

Visiting Nurse Association Health Services, Inc.

Julie Vargo-O’Brien, Chairman
Julie has been serving as the board chairman for VNA Health Services since 2008 and has been serving on the VNA of the Treasure Coast Board since 2005. She has been a resident of Vero Beach for over ten years and is originally from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Julie attended Franklin and Marshall College and graduated in 1988, earning her B.A. degree in American history. She worked for NCR Corporation in the medical systems division before going back to school for dentistry. In 1996, Julie graduated first in her class from the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry, and moved to Texas to complete her residency in orthodontics at Baylor College of Dentistry. She practicedin Dallas until 1999 and then moved to Vero Beach and practiced orthodontics until 2004. She is married to Dr. David J. O’Brien and has three step-children.

Allison Proctor, Vice Chairman

Art Castillo, Secretary/Treasurer

Ann Marie McCrystal

 

VNA Hospice of Indian River County, Inc.

Peter Chase, Chairman
Peter has resided in Vero Beach since 2002 and became a member of the VNA Hospice Board in 2005 before becoming chairman in 2010. He has over fifty years of experience in the business, finance, and communications industries. Peter graduated with a B.A. from Columbia College in New York, New York in 1955 and soon after began his professional career with NBC. After NBC, Chase was drafted into the U.S. Navy and served for several years as a journalist before returning to NBC to work in network sales. Peter continued his career at J. Walter Thompson, a New York advertising agency, as an account executive. He later moved on to become a senior vice president at two different investment banking firms and was elected to the board of one of them. Eventually, Peter was hired as the Executive Vice President of a floundering geophysical company and helped restructure it and list it on the New York Stock Exchange. Peter also aided in the creation and development of over thirty start-up and emerging growth companies, and in 1978, he worked with the Morgan Stanley financial company to manage international funds. He is currently retired and has two daughters and three grandchildren.

Tom Tierney, Vice Chairman

Susan A. Croom, Secretary

Elizabeth Smith, Treasurer

Elaine Hameister

Jill Winland-Brown 

 

VNA Space Coast, Inc.

Ford Fegert, Chairman
Ford was a founding member of the VNA Space Coast Board and has been a member of the VNA Treasure Coast Board for over ten years. Ford gained his experience from a long and prestigious career in law, which he began after earning his B.S. degreein naval architecture and kinesiology from the University of Michigan in 1981. Realizing law was his passion, Ford continued his education at Tulane University School of Law, concentrated in Admiralty and Maritime Law, and worked as a law clerk with the maritime law firm Normann & Normann in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating from Tulane University in 1984, Ford moved to California and continued his work in maritime law, practicing in State Courts, United States District Courts, and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. After leaving California, Mr. Fegert moved to Florida and became a member of the Florida Bar Association in 1990. He has been practicing in Florida ever since, and became a co-founder of his own firm, Garris & Fegert LLP, in 2004, where he is currently practicing. Ford is a Board Certified Civil Mediator, a Florida Bar Certified Admiralty and Maritime Law Practitioner, and a Proctor in Admiralty through the Maritime Law Association of the United States. Mr. Fegert has also served as board chairman for VNA of the Treasure Coast from 2000 to 2002.  

Ann Marie McCrystal, Secretary/Treasurer

Rob Naberhaus

Gina Rall

 

Visiting Nurse Association of Indian River County, Inc.

David J. Becker, MD, Chairman
David has been serving on the VNA Board of Directors for nearly two decades. He has been a resident of Indian River County for over thirty years and worked at Indian River Memorial Hospital for eight years. Now serving as an honorary staff member, David is board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease. David served as a trustee for the Indian River County Hospital District from 1984-1988 and was a member of the IRMH Finance committee. He has been a past president and campaign chair for United Way of IRC and is town councilman for Indian River Shore.

 

 

James W. Large, MD, Vice Chairman

Fran Pieck, Secretary

Andrew Taylor, Treasurer

Jane Coyle

Michael Kmetz

Ann Marie McCrystal

 

Visiting Nurse Association Private Services, Inc.

Allison Proctor, Chairman 
Allison is a resident of Vero Beach and has lived in both Tampa and Gainesville. She attended Vanderbilt University where she earned her B.A. in Spanish. She also attended La Universidad de Madrid in Spain and conducted graduate work at the University of Florida. She was a lending officer for the First Florida Bank in Tampa in 1991. Her extensive volunteer history includes the being a docent for the Tampa Museum of Art, serving for the United Way, and Tampa Performing Arts Center. In Vero Beach, Allison has volunteered for the Junior League of Indian River, St. Edward’s School, Community Church, and the Treasure Coast Wine Festival.

 

Ann Marie McCrystal, Vice Chairmen 

Susan Bailey, Director 

Joyce Baldrica, Director