Adrina Banks-Martin, New Chair for the Board of Trustees at The Brooklyn Hospital Center

The Brooklyn Hospital Center is proud to announce the appointment of Adrina Banks-Martin as Chair of the Board of Trustees, effective immediately. Ms. Banks-Martin steps into this role following her tenure on both the Board of Trustees and the Community Advisory Board (CAB).

“The energy on our board is all about: How do we make this the best hospital for the community that we serve? This priority gives you a solid foundation to work from,” Ms. Banks-Martin says.

Ms. Banks-Martin’s election reflects a broader, ongoing mission to prioritize building a board that more closely resembles TBHC and its culturally rich community. This mission was spearheaded by her predecessor, Lizanne Fontaine. “Lizanne has changed the face of the board,” Ms. Banks-Martin says. “There has been a huge shift in demographics over these past 10 years. We now have people who have grown up in the neighborhood, as well as people who are new to the community. All these additions have made for a more diverse board, while also including people who have served the community for a long time.”

Ms. Fontaine, who has served on the board since 2002 and as chair since 2018, is delighted with her successor. “Adrina lives in the neighborhood and brings a wealth of experience to this role. She sat on the CAB, chaired the Board’s Quality and Patient Safety Committee and was involved with many other committees. It is no wonder the Governance Committee recommended her to the full board, who approved her appointment resoundingly.”

A retired Project Manager in Global Finance Firmwide Financial Business Architecture with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Ms. Banks-Martin has a full grasp of both the pride and challenges that come with being a community hospital in a city full of corporate-funded entities.

“Our clinicians, staff and administrative teams leverage relationships and do a yeoman’s job of making sure that we provide cutting-edge care in a time of scarce resources,” she says.

It’s that resourcefulness that draws both women, along with the rest of the board, to continue fighting for and representing TBHC. “The mission is very resonant with our neighbors,” Ms. Fontaine says. “In a world that’s increasingly systematized, it’s nice to get behind something that is there for the community. People enjoy and want to serve their community. It’s probably the most important part of our independence.”

Ms. Banks-Martin and Ms. Fontaine know a thing or two about affecting change. They initially met as undergraduates at Dartmouth College, part of only the second graduating class of women in the college’s history. Years later, it’s TBHC that brought the two friends back together, ushering in a new vision of what the board and the hospital can accomplish.