New board members announced for hospital

Avera Queen of Peace Health Services announced this week that five people have been named to its board of directors.

The new members are David Olson, Greg Von Wald, Patricia Malters, M.D., Sister Bonita Gacnik and Jerry Thomsen.

Olson is a partner at ELO Prof. LLC. He received his business degree from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, and became a certified public accountant in 1980, and a certified valuation analyst in January 2010. He is a former member of St. Joseph Hospital Lay Advisory Board and also served on the Methodist Hospital Board.

Von Wald has served as president of Mitchell Technical Institute since July 2008. He previously worked for Tel Serv Communications and Golden West Technologies and set up the first telemedicine system in South Dakota. While in Aberdeen, he served on the Dakota Prairie Museum Board, Airport Board, State Chamber of Commerce Board and the Presentation Sisters Development Board.

Malters is serving her second term on the board. She served on the St. Joseph/Avera Queen of Peace Hospital Board of Directors from 1990 to 1993. She and her husband are partners in their internal medicine practice. She has been on the medical staff at Avera Queen of Peace for 23 years and in private practice for the same amount of time. She served as president of the Avera Queen of Peace Medical Executive Committee from 1990 to 1992 and has served in other roles on the committee. She also served as chairwoman of the Quality Care Committee for more than 20 years.

Gacnik is a member of the Benedictine Sisters community and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics, a master’s in computer science and her Ph.D. in computing technology in education. She is a tenured professor of mathematics and computer science at Mount Marty College, Yankton, and prior to that worked for the Scientific Computing Division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. She has also served as a board member at Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital in O’Neill, Neb.

Thomsen is the manager of Thomsen Enterprises, owner of the Hampton Inn, and partner in the Comfort Inn, in Mitchell. He formerly served as a vice president of Carlisle Companies and was president of Trail King from 1988 to 2008. He serves on a number of business and industry boards, including the Truck Trailer Manufacturing Association, and is a member of local boards including Mitchell Christian School, Mitchell Area Scholarship Fund, Mitchell Area Charitable Foundation, LifeQuest and the Dakota Wesleyan University Board of Trustees. He also serves on the board of the Mitchell Area Development Corporation and First National Bank.

Tags: queen of peace, david olson, greg von wald, patricia malters, bonita gacnik, jerry thomsen, news, local, avera