Howard C. (Nick) Chandler, Jr. MD
Chairman of the Board

Dr. Chandler is a board-certified neurosurgeon who, effective February 1, 2007, is practicing at Lyerly Neurosurgery, a division of Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida. He recently practiced at Montana Neurological Associates in Missoula, Montana. He founded and serves as Chairman of the Montana Neuroscience Institute, a charitable foundation that fosters NIH-funded neuroscience research at The University of Montana and St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. Dr. Chandler serves on the board of directors of Alliance Healthcard, Inc., a publicly traded health care company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. He co-founded Big Sky Biotech, LLC, a Missoula-based company holding patents for and developing gene-therapy based treatments for hearing loss. He has served on the board of directors of St. Patrick Hospital and Big Sky Surgery Center in Missoula. Dr. Chandler received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of the South, an M.D. from Wake Forest University, and completed Neurosurgery residency at the University of Florida.

Mark Hawkins is President & CEO of InterWest. Mr. Hawkins has over 25 years experience in the health care field. Prior to coming to Missoula, he spent 13 years working in senior management positions at New Mexico Blue Cross Blue Shield and King County Medical Blue Shield in Seattle. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant administrator at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia and a health care planner in the Office of the Surgeon General at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington, DC. Mr. Hawkins has an MPH degree in Hospital Administration & Health Systems Management from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Daniel E. Braby MD
Member

Dr Daniel Braby is a board certified Otolaryngologist practicing at Rocky Mountain Ear, Nose & Throat Center LLC in Missoula, Montana. His clinical practice involves endocrine, sinonasal and skull base surgery. Dr. Braby is a member of the Montana Neuroscience Institute which is affiliated with Saint Patrick’s Hospital and the University of Montana in Missoula. He has served as Chairman of Surgery at Community Hospital and has been a member on the Community Hospital Board of Directors since 2003. In 1996 he founded the Montana Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery which has been instrumental in bringing the state’s Otolaryngologist’s together for purposes of education and patient care.

Dr. Braby serves on the Board of Directors of Northstar LLC, a managed service organization that administers two regional surgery centers and multiple ophthalmic practices within Western Montana.

Dr.Braby received a medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1987 and completed a residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in 1992 at the University of Utah School of Health Sciences. He has been in private practice in Missoula, Montana since 1992.

Robert D. Garces
Member

Bob Garces is Chairman and CEO of NovaNet - a large national PPO network founded in 1993, with over 2,300 hospitals and 250,000 physicians. He is also Chairman and CEO of Alliance HealthCard, a discount healthcare program offering discounts to individuals in 16 medical services. Prior to starting these companies, Mr. Garces was CEO of a physician billing company and founded a mobile imaging company. During the 1980’s he served as Chairman of the Board of Northlake Medical Center in Atlanta.