June 8, 2016
Marshall Medical Centers’ newest board member feels like he’s already part of the hospital family.
Stan Chaffin, a lifelong resident of the Horton/Douglas area, recalls his grandmother going to work in the early 1960s in the OB department at Marshall South. He often visited her there.
“Some of my fondest memories as a child were going there,” he recalled. “I’ve had an interest and a love for that hospital ever since then.”
His grandmother eventually died in the hospital following a tragic car wreck when she was just four months away from retirement. Both his parents have been patients at South and Chaffin himself has had surgeries there. He is very proud of the facility that has grown up with him.
“It is certainly a wonderful thing to have a hospital of this caliber in this area,” he said. “To be locally owned, in my opinion, is even more of a plus.”
Chaffin said he couldn’t be more proud to become a part of the Marshall County Health Care Authority Board of Directors, and to do his part to continue the legacy created by the body.
“I hope to continue to see more growth and to help maintain and improve services,” he said. “I really feel honored to be asked to serve on this board.”
Chaffin, 58, works as the assistant general manager of the Douglas Water Authority and is an adjunct professor of accounting and business at Wallace State Community College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business management at Jacksonville State University and master’s degree at Alabama A&M University.
He has been married for 32 years to his wife Sandra, who recently retired as a Douglas schoolteacher. The have three children and five grandchildren.
Another new board member also has family ties to the Marshall Medical system. Alabama Appeals Court Judge Liles Burke is an Arab native. His stepdad, the late State Sen. Sid McDonald, was a member of the Healthcare Authority 1984 to 1989. Burke recalled McDonald being on the board when Marshall North was built.
“As a child I visited relatives at the old Arab Hospital and I’ve been treated at Marshall North,” he said. “I recognize how truly important it is to a county to have this kind of quality healthcare here. If you look around at other counties they’re losing their hospitals.”
Burke lauded the board’s reputation for serving the county as a whole.
“They don’t fight wars on politics or turf or this side of the county versus that side of the county,” he said. “I hope I can do my part to continue that.”
Burke is the son of Arab attorney Claud Burke and his mother is Jane McDonald of Union Grove. He received his undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama in 1991 and, in 1994, his law degree from The University of Alabama School of Law. While there, he served as the student member of The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.
Burke began practicing law with his father in the firm now known as Burke, Beuoy & Maze. He served as Arab's city attorney and prosecutor, and in 2001 was named municipal judge. He held that office until 2006 when he was appointed as district judge of Marshall County by Gov. Bob Riley. He was elected to the position in 2008.
While serving in that post, Burke started Marshall County's first family drug court and, along with District Judge Tim Riley, implemented one of Alabama's first domestic violence courts.
In 2011, Burke was named by Gov. Robert Bentley to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, filling the office left vacant by the election of a judge to the Alabama Supreme Court. He was elected to a six-year term in 2012.
Burke is currently serving as president of the Alabama Appellate Judges Association. He also serves as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps of the Alabama Army National Guard, and is assigned to the 122nd Troop Support Command in Selma.
Burke and his wife Natalie have two children.
Burke and Chaffin are replacing two longtime board members who stepped down in April. Randall Ferguson, who is retired from Ferguson Williams, became a board member in 1998. Norman Spear, owner of Albertville Discount Pharmacy, also joined the board in 1998.
The board was created originally on April 17, 1950.
Current board members are:
* Michael W. Alred, chairman
* Nancy Stewart, vice chairman
* Roy Rollings, treasurer
* Pat Allen, secretary
* Joe Abercrombie
* Wayne Crews
* Dr. Donald Slappey
* Dr. Winter Wilson
* David Walker