Board of Directors

Artie Campbell, RN, MSN, a clinical nurse for 37+ years, retired as the Director of Critical Care from East Texas Medical Center. In addition to her directorship, she worked as a nurse in the level 1 trauma center, neuro-ICU, and in the medical/surgical unit. She taught clinical nursing for many years. Her commitment to serving on the board stems from her desire to continue advocating on behalf of the underserved patients and supporting long-term funding for community health centers.

Dr. Carrie Gordon is a retired urban planner and has served the Balch Springs community for over 20 years. Recently re-elected Mayor of Balch Springs, she is a strong advocate and supporter for youth and senior programs and projects. She is a woman of God, is talented, energetic, and a hard-working team player. She is a singer and is a part of a traveling band of musical artists.

James currently serves as an Area Vice President for Hillrom with responsibility for a team of account executives and clinical specialists covering South Texas and South Louisiana. Previously, he enjoyed 25-year career with AbbVie/Abbott, where he advanced from Hospital Account Manager to Regional Sales Director via two divisions. Throughout his career, James led multiple sales teams both as a first line and second line leader, with several products, covering numerous therapies throughout all phases of the product lifecycle. His team consisted of up to 85 sales representatives and 9 managers that generated approximately $160 MM in annual sales. James is responsible for developing and executing sales strategies, analyzing market trends, and leading his team to meet and/or exceed sales objectives.

Wanda McClellan has been a long-standing board member since 2002. She previously worked for Wackenhut Security as a receptionist for 14 years and retired in 1990. She became a patient in 1975 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Clinic and in 2002 was recruited by Elmer Smith, RN to become a board member. Ms. McClellan has enjoyed working on the Board and serves on the Finance and Advocacy committees. She is widowed and a mother of five; all natives of Dallas: one daughter, Denise Wortham, and four sons, William Wortham, Gerry Wortham, Darrell Wortham, and Roderick Wortham.

Clarita Rivera is a retired School Teacher, Principal and Executive Director for over 13 DISD schools. She led the Young Women's STEAM Academy (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and was recognized as Secondary Principal of the Year. She was in the DISD school system for 43 years. Her post-retirement career plans include serving as an advocate for the patients and providing counseling services for people affected by COVID.

Sandra Savage, MSN, RN, Clinical Instructor, UT Tyler School of Nursing, teaches nursing students in the areas of clinical nursing, leadership and management, health assessments and competencies. She has experience in many nursing specialties, including medical/surgical, oncology, telemetry and vascular nursing. She is a strong advocate for community health centers.

Joyce Tapley, Chief Executive Officer at Foremost Family Health Centers, in Dallas and Balch Springs, clearly remembers when she became interested in a career in health care as a young child, when her grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of 55. Joyce was only 8 years old and told her mother she wanted to be a doctor to help keep people from dying. A natural math whiz, Tapley enrolled at the University of Washington, where she embarked on a pre-med path. She also made time to exercise her creative side, as an artist and dancer.

She shifted her career direction to hospital administration because she believed she could still have a significant impact on peoples’ health without necessarily practicing medicine. Tapley earned her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Washington and went on to earn her Masters’ Degree in Health Administration from University of Washington School of Public Health, with an emphasis on Finance. In addition to her degrees, she holds four certifications in corporate compliance, HIPAA compliance and forensic healthcare auditing.

Over the past 30 years, she has served as an Assistant Hospital Administrator at a major teaching hospital in Los Angeles, a Financial Operations Director at a teaching hospital clinical laboratory in San Francisco, California, and then moved to Dallas to serve as the Chief Operations Officer of a multi-specialty group practice which staffed JPS Health Network in Ft. Worth. In 1998, she became the CEO of Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Clinic, which is now called Foremost Family Health Centers with two offices (the MLK, Jr. Family Clinic and the Balch Springs Health Center), and has assisted many individuals in obtaining undergraduate and graduate degrees in healthcare, securing school loan repayment options, and creating training sites for those interested in completing clinical and administrative school requirements.

Tapley attributes her professional accomplishments made over the past 3 decades first to her commitment to trying to follow the path that God sets in her heart. Secondly, she has learned to assemble the right individuals for the right positions; and thirdly, she has solidified great relationships to continue securing increased funding at every place she has worked.

As an individual who lives with three chronic health conditions, Joyce is a cheerleader in spreading the word about the importance of preventive and primary care. She leads the health center according to its mission, vision and corporate values and she believes in hiring from the communities she serves, and in retaining and rewarding the high performing staff.