The planned health care-focused public high school in Demopolis now has a board of trustees.
Gov. Kay Ivey announced the appointments on Monday.
“The Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences will help more Alabama students open the door to their futures, and it will change the trajectory of rural health care in our state,” Ivey said in a statement.
“I am proud to partner with so many capable individuals from around the state in bringing this school to fruition. I am confident that, working together, we will be well on our way to getting this school opened for the fall of 2026. I know it will help change Alabama for the better.”
Ivey’s appointees are:
- Reeivice Girtman, Ozark City School System superintendent
- Katrina Keefer, DCH Health System chief executive officer
- Laura Grill, East Alabama Health president and chief executive officer
- Jill Stork, Alabama Power, Western Division vice president
- Jeff Samz, Huntsville Hospital Health System chief executive officer
- Dr. Will Ferniany, former chief executive officer of University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System
- Mike Warren, former president and chief executive officer of Children’s of Alabama
- Dr. Brittney Anderson, Anderson Family Care physician and owner
The tuition-free residential high school was first proposed in 2023, but lawmakers first wanted to study the potential success and return on investment of a state-wide school in the rural Black Belt.
In the legislative session this spring, it was a priority for Ivey.
The school will offer a varied curriculum of STEM courses – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – as well as health care-based courses, and will operate in partnership with Whitfield Regional Hospital.
Ivey and lawmakers this year put $15 million toward the project. There’s also a $26.4 million pledge from Bloomberg Philanthropies, a pledge that was contingent on the state funding the project’s remaining costs. State leaders this spring said additional funds are still needed to get the expected $65 million cost to set up the school.
The legislation allowed Ivey to select eight board members, one from each of the state’s congressional districts and an at-large member. It also outlined 12 other appointees to the board, including the head of Whitfield Regional Hospital and the presidents of Auburn, Alabama, West Alabama and South Alabama universities, or their designees.