March of Dimes Adds New Members to Chapter Board of Directors
September 3, 2014
COLUMBIA, SC – The March of Dimes welcomes BZ (Melanie) Giese and Jamie Shuster as a members of the South Carolina Board of Directors.
BZ Giese is Director of the Birth Outcomes Initiative (BOI) for the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS). She served an integral role in the 2011 creation of South Carolina BOI growing it to a now nationally-recognized program model. The primary goal of SCBOI is to provide educational outreach and communicate best practices in South Carolina’s fight against infant mortality and low birth weight babies.
Boasting a combined 37 years of experience in the health industry, Ms. Giese has worked in the private and public health care sector with experience in hospital, pharmaceutical company and state government settings. Currently, she serves as a member of the National Quality Forum’s Maternity Action Team, Executive Board Member of the SC Diabetes Initiative and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the USC School of Public Health & Policy. Ms. Giese graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and is a registered nurse.
Jamie Shuster is DHEC’s director of Public Health. She holds a bachelor’s degree in health policy and administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in health policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Prior to joining the DHEC staff in 2012, Shuster served as director of Budget and Policy for South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. She helped the governor develop her first executive budget and advised her on a variety of policy issues, particularly those involving public health, education and social services.
Earlier in her career, Shuster served as director of External Affairs for the South Carolina Policy Council, a public policy research/educational organization. She also has extensive legislative experience, having worked in both the local and Washington, D.C., offices of several members of Congress.
“We are delighted to have BZ (Melanie) Giese and Jamie Shuster join our chapter volunteer leadership in this capacity. We look forward to working with them as we continue strengthening our mission and fundraising initiatives in South Carolina. Their vision and experience will contribute to the success of March of Dimes, and ultimately to the health and well-being of our state’s babies and families” said Mona Carter, State Director of the March of Dimes South Carolina Chapter.
Current March of Dimes South Carolina Chapter board members include:
Vince Ford (Chapter Chair) of Palmetto Health, Carol Belding of Alere Women’s and Children’s Health, Cindy Helling of Select Health of South Carolina, Inc. Carolyn MacIntosh, Carolina Alliance Bank, Oliver H. Mathewes, of Carolina One Real Estate, Brian Ohning, MD of Greenville Health System, Libba Patterson of USC Law School, Terry Peace of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and Charles Rittenberg, MD of MUSC.
Each year the South Carolina Chapter of the March of Dimes invests in mission initiatives statewide, including research grants and local community programs. Through these programs, the March of Dimes continues working to prevent birth defects and infant death, to reduce South Carolina’s premature birth rate, and to increase access to prenatal care and educate men and women about having healthy babies.
For more than 75 years, moms and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com/southcarolina
