June 28, 2007 — Gov. John deJongh Jr. has nominated Vivian Ebbesen-Fludd as commissioner of health, according to a Government House news release.
Ebbesen-Fludd comes to the position with significant experience in health administration and management, the release said.
“Vivian brings tremendous experience to the position with the required focus on the patient," deJongh said. "Her management of the Frederiksted Health Center and its transformation from a division in the Department of Health to a self-sustaining, non-profit corporation responding to community needs is indicative of her abilities."
The governor emphasized the need for a strong leader to run an accessible and affordable health-care system.
“For me, the critical concerns of affordable health care, operating hours of our clinics, Medicaid funding and health-care staffing are but a few of the areas that must be the beneficiary of decisive decision-making and bold leadership,” deJongh said.
After receiving her bachelor of science in nursing from Creighton University in 1988, Ebbesen-Fludd worked at the St. Croix Hospital and Community Health Center in the labor-and-delivery unit. Later she took up a position in the neonatal intensive care unit at Georgetown University Hospital, then in the labor-and-delivery unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Ebbesen-Fludd received her masters of science degree with a concentration in perinatal and neonatal nursing from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She then returned to the Virgin Islands and worked as the director of the Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic-Urgent Care Center, then later as the executive director of Frederiksted Health Center/Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic and Frederiksted Health Care.
For more than 10 years she has held those positions, making her responsible for program and service enhancement, federal funding maintenance and expansion and implementation of the territory’s only federally funded school-based health center, located on the campus of the St. Croix Educational Complex High School.
Ebbesen-Fludd has also served as a member of the nursing faculty at UVI's St. Croix Campus, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Coppin State University, Union Memorial Hospital and the Baltimore City School System.
“I am humbled by Gov. deJongh’s confidence in my ability to lead this critical department," Ebbesen-Fludd said Thursday, according to the release. "It will remain my strong belief that health care is not a privilege but rather a right for all persons in our territory. I look forward to making great strides for our community, which can only be accomplished through the support of the department’s staff and creative community partnerships.”
Ebbesen-Fludd is a member of numerous local and national organizations and committees. She also currently serves on the board of directors and project-advisory council for the V.I. Perinatal Partnership, and has recently served on the V.I. Department of Human Services' Head Start policy-advisory council.
DeJongh expressed his gratitude to Dr. Phyllis Wallace, who held the position of acting commissioner for about six months while the search was on for a permanent commissioner.
“I appreciate Dr. Wallace’s efforts in leading the Department of Health during this period of time, even up against some difficult moments in certain activity centers of the Health Department,” he said.
Ebbesen-Fludd's nomination is subject to the advice and consent of the 27th Legislature.
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