A longtime board member and Johnson County resident was selected to lead the trustees who govern the county hospital.
Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger was named chairperson of the Johnson Memorial Health Board of Trustees Thursday. The board serves as the governing body of the health network and main-campus hospital in Franklin.
“We are very fortunate to have such a strong, passionate board to help guide our strategic planning and decision-making,” said Dr. David Dunkle, President and CEO of Johnson Memorial Health, in a news release. “I am grateful for the leadership of both Sandi Huddleston and now Marty Umbarger as we continue our mission to put the patient first in all we do at JMH.”
Umbarger, a board member since 2003, replaces former chairperson Sandi Huddleston, who stepped down from the role after serving in it since 2009. She will continue to serve on the board, according to the news release.
"I’m proud of our county hospital. It’s been here since 1947," Umbarger said. "To be asked and elected to be the chairman is very, very humbling."
One of Umbarger’s main goals is to continue Johnson Memorial’s emphasis on putting patients first, and he wants the hospital to be the No. 1 health care provider choice to local residents, he said.
"Everything you do, and any activity that happens, we have to always think, ‘What’s good for the patient?’ and we’re trying to use that as our guiding principle," Umbarger said.
He also looks forward to working with Dunkle, who he says leads the hospital with integrity.
"It’s going to be a real privilege to work with him," he said.
Umbarger, a lifelong county resident, has a history of community service with numerous local organizations including the Franklin College Board of Trustees, Bargersville Masonic Lodge and 33rd Degree Mason, Indiana Scottish Rite, Murat Shrine.
He is the former Adjutant General of Indiana, leading the Indiana Army and Air National Guard. He previously served as a member of the Secretary of the Army’s Reserve Forces Policy Committee, and the Secretary of Defense’s Reserve Forces Policy Board.
Umbarger is also President and CEO of Roy Umbarger and Sons, Inc., an agricultural wholesale and retail business in Bargersville and Franklin. He is a graduate of the University of Evansville and the U.S. Army War College.
"I’ve tried to bring whatever skills I’ve learned in those locations to the hospital," Umbarger said.
