Memorial Healthcare System in Broward County has two new Board of Commissioners members and one returning member, courtesy of appointments and a reappointment by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
They come months after a failed legislative effort last Session to merge Memorial Healthcare System and Broward Health by Shane Strum, the CEO for both entities who previously worked as DeSantis’ Chief of Staff.
A sponsor of the legislation and lobbyists indicated it may be reintroduced in next year.
The Board’s two new members are Violet Lowrey and Diana Taub. Both are active in their communities, albeit to different political degrees.
Lowrey, a 54-year-old retired Hollywood resident, previously led student and career services at Keiser University. She’s served as a member of the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce’s Education and Workforce Committee, Rotary Club of Cypress Creek and American Lung Association of South Florida.
Taub, a 75-year-old Pembroke Pines resident, is an education consultant, President of the Southwest Broward Republican Club and a member of the State Retirement Commission through a separate DeSantis appointment.
She has donated tens of thousands of dollars to GOP causes and candidates over the years. DeSantis, by far, has been the biggest beneficiary of her political generosity, and her X page still includes a link to the donations page for DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign.
“Thank you @GovRonDeSantis for putting your trust in me!” Taub wrote on the site Monday shortly after the Governor’s Office announced her appointment. “Hope to serve our community well!”
At the state level, Taub has given DeSantis and his now-closed political committee, Empower Parents PAC, $13,200 since 2018. That’s more than half her total state-level political giving, which has also gone to Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, Sens. Jay Collins and Joe Gruters, Reps. David Borrero, Tom Fabricio and Chip LaMarca, and U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody’s 2018 campaign for Attorney General.
Federal Election Commission records show Taub gave no greater at the national level than to DeSantis’ presidential campaign, including $6,856 to Restore Our Nation (RON) PAC, $5,000 to the Great American Comeback leadership PAC backing him, $5,000 to Team DeSantis 2024 and $2,500 to Never Back Down Inc.
She also contributed $1,500 to the Republican Party of Florida’s federal account in 2022, gave thousands to President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, and kicked three-figure donations to U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds and Brian Mast in 2020.
Taub’s support of the Governor isn’t solely monetary. On at least one occasion, she traveled to Iowa to support DeSantis’ presidential bid as part of First Lady Casey DeSantis’ “Mamas for DeSantis” initiative.
Taub worked as a teacher and administrator with Miami-Dade County Public Schools for close to 42 years, retiring in April 2016. She also worked as a freelance advertising and design consultant for more than 53, according to her LinkedIn profile, which says that for the past decade she’s been a school improvement consultant and independent agent in life, health and annuity product sales.
Memorial Healthcare System is a special taxing district created by the Florida Legislature in 1947 to serve residents of southern Broward County. It is headquartered in Hollywood and has grown into one of the largest public health care systems in the United States, operating six hospitals — including the flagship Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital — and numerous urgent care centers, primary care clinics, a nursing home and specialty institutions.
Its seven-member Board of Commissioners are appointed by the Governor, confirmed by the Senate and responsible for setting policy, approving budgets, authorizing major expenditures and overseeing strategic planning. That includes holding the organization’s CEO accountable for daily operations and safeguarding public resources while advancing its mission of providing high-quality, cost-effective health care to the community.
In February, Republican Sen. Bryan Ávila of Hialeah Gardens and Republican Rep. Hillary Cassel of Dania Beach filed twin bills (SB 1518, HB 1253) that would have granted Broward’s two public hospital districts — the North Broward Hospital District (Broward Health) and the South Broward Hospital District (Memorial Healthcare System) — broad authority to form nonprofit or for-profit ventures and establish partnerships and corporations without being subject to state or federal antitrust laws.
Supporters, including Strum and lobbyists for both districts, framed the measures as tools for efficiency, resource-sharing and improved competition against larger, for-profit systems like HCA Healthcare. Critics, including some Memorial employees and physicians, warned the proposals could lead to a de facto merger without the public review and possible referendum required under state law for an actual merger.
Both bills died unheard. The boards of each hospital organization denied knowing of the bills until they were filed. But sponsors and lobbyists indicated they may be reintroduced in future Sessions.
The legislation arose during a period of internal change at Memorial, where Strum, appointed interim CEO in September while retaining his Broward Health role, oversaw layoffs, demotions and workforce restructuring. Memorial’s board praised the actions in March as part of a mandate to eliminate redundancies and increase efficiency. Some employees alleged declining morale and feared further cuts.
Public opposition included a Change.org petition that by April had amassed nearly 2,000 signatures, many from health care workers and concerned residents.
DeSantis on Monday re-appointed Memorial Healthcare System Board of Commissioners Chair Elizabeth Justen, a 64-year-old Hollywood resident who works as the Executive Director of the Sheriff’s Foundation of Broward County and an e-commerce project manager for BrandsMart USA.
She also owns and operates The Justen Group Inc., a for-profit company she registered with the state in January 2024.
In 2016, Justen donated $825 to the late Ken Keechl, a Democrat who made history as Broward County’s first openly gay Mayor.
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