Former Sarasota Chamber CEO files to run for seat on Sarasota County Public Hospital Board

Kevin Cooper, a former Army sergeant and current vice president for communications and strategic initiative at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, recently filed paperwork to run for Seat 2 on the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board.

Hospital Board Chairman Tramm Hudson, the current occupant of that at-large seat, does not plan to seek another term. He has been on the board since 2015.

There will be three other hospital board seats up for election this year in Sarasota County – Central District Seat 1, occupied by Sarah Lodge; At Large Seat 1, occupied by Sharon Wetzler DePeters; and At Large Seat 3 occupied by Britt Riner.

If all candidates are from one party, the seat may be decided on the Aug. 20 primary ballot; otherwise it would be on Nov. 5.

The partisan hospital board races had historically been low-profile prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted a “Health Freedom” slate of candidates to run for four of five seats in 2022.

Three of those four candidates won seats on the board. Their voices helped spur the hospital to commission an independent study of its practices during the pandemic.

Cooper is an executive committee member of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance Board of Directors and has previously served as president & CEO of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Sarasota County Planning Commission.

“It’s about ensuring the highest quality care for Sarasota County residents,” Cooper, whose two children were born at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, said in a prepared statement. “Health care is extremely personal and we simply cannot do enough to recruit the best and brightest medical professionals in the country to help those in our community who find themselves in need of our services.”

Before moving to Sarasota County in 2008, Cooper was a Specialist in the Ohio Army National Guard when he was deployed to Al-Taqaddum Air Base in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, later recognized as having been, at the time, “the most dangerous place on planet Earth.” Specifically, Cooper served as a convoy security operator during Operation Iraqi Freedom, supporting U.S. Marines and other forces during conflicts in Fallujah.

In addition to receiving a battlefield promotion to sergeant, Cooper received multiple awards and commendations, including the Army Commendation Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Joint Meritorious Unit Award.

Cooper’s local volunteer efforts in Sarasota County include prior roles with the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness and the Sarasota County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and current service on the Hope City Church Dream Team hosting weekly services and assisting with security.

“Sarasota County has been an absolute blessing for me in so many ways. It is the best place in Florida, and the country, to live and raise a family and I will continue to do everything I can to preserve that for current and future generations,” Cooper said.

Cooper received his bachelor’s degree at Kent State University and his master’s in business administration (MBA) from Florida State University. He lives in Sarasota County with his wife Missy, his two children, Violet and Cohen and rescue dog Ruby.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Candidate files for at-large seat on Sarasota public hospital board;