Meet Us

Foundation Staff & Board

Our staff and Board members are dedicated to the health of Wickenburg, generously giving their time and skills to further local, quality healthcare. Our Board is all-volunteer, and each year we are grateful for their full participation in annual donations and fundraiser planning.

Our Staff

April Taylor

April L. Taylor

Foundation Executive Director

April Taylor previously served as the Development Manager for the Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation and now proudly leads the organization as its Executive Director.  

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April’s career began as an entrepreneur. With only an idea and just one contact, she built KindCare Medical, an online business with three distinct websites specializing in ocular care, specialty medical seating, and medical-surgical products.

April taught herself to build websites, write code, and market on the internet. KindCare Medical consistently ranked at the top of search engines. Not satisfied with simply having a high search engine ranking, she turned to social media. Facebook offered limitless opportunities to connect in a way never before possible for a small business. She again immersed herself in learning and identified digital marketing strategies. KindCare Medical was so successful, it was eventually purchased by a private party as a turnkey business.

April now focuses that same dedication, passion, and digital marketing expertise to support the Foundation!

Claudia Summers Wickenburg Hospital Foundation Staff

Claudia Summers

Grant Writer
Claudia is from Detroit, Michigan where she completed a bachelor’s degree in Business, resulting in a career as Special Project Manager for Ford Motor Company. Claudia is the recipient of a Telly Award (the marketing equal to an Oscar) for producing, directing and writing a non-commercial video for Ford Motor Company.
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Claudia has been recognized by Who Who’s and the American Women’s Business Association. She is also a Certified Lead Auditor in Quality and Environmental Systems, and has presented at the American Society of Quality.

Today, Claudia’s goal is to support opportunities for Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation to identify, apply and maintain Grant funding ensuring continual improvement at a world-class facility, with the latest equipment for their health care today and in the future.

In her spare time, Claudia embraces experiences from off-road and street motorcycles; to off-shore, high-performance race boats and pleasure yachts traveling the Atlantic Ocean. Soaring higher was achieved when she became a licensed private pilot and flew through the Bermuda Triangle.

Richelle Crook Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Staff

Richelle Crook

Senior Accountant

Richelle moved to Arizona in 2017 after living in seven states throughout various parts of the country. She was born and raised in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and studied at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Virginia Commonwealth University where she majored in accounting. 

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After working for more than a decade as an accountant, Richelle went to work for the airlines, traveled the world, experienced different cultures, and met new people. After being furloughed from the airlines, she returned to finance and started working for a video game development company in California.

Richelle volunteers at St. Mary’s Food Bank. She is married to her best friend, Terry. They love traveling, dogs, and football.

Our Board

Hunt Spear Wickenburg Hospital Foundation Board

Hunt Spear

Foundation Board Chair
Hunt has been a resident of Wickenburg since 2011, moving from the Carlsbad area. Hunt has lived in Maryland, Nigeria, Jamaica, El Salvador, Guam, Florida, Colorado, California, and Arizona. After working in banking, sales and personnel, he went to work in information technology for the federal government where he remains today.
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Soon after arriving in Wickenburg, Hunt began volunteering for many different organizations. He spent two three-year terms on the board of the Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation serving three years as Chairman of the Board, one year on the board of the Wickenburg Citizens Patrol, three years on the board of the Wickenburg Elks Lodge more recently returning for another three-year term with the Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Board of Directors.

Hunt is also a twelve-year volunteer of the Amigos Trail Ride and Drive, as Chairman for five years.

Hunt is excited to be on the Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Board and looks forward to supporting our local community. His life these days involves work, volunteering, and motorcycling.

Ed Buscis Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Board

Ed Buscis

Foundation Vice Chair

Ed retired in 2004 from his thriving distribution and manufacturing business, and has an educational background in mechanical engineering. Ed’s mother once spent time at Wickenburg Community Hospital for over a month and was treated “in a manner that was so extremely special.”

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He currently volunteers at the Peeples Valley Fire Department, and is motivated to be a part of future initiatives connecting Hospital services with our surrounding rural communities.

Lea Way Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Board

Lea Way, FNP-C, PA-C

Treasurer

Lea has been practicing medicine for over 30 years. Her career began serendipitously as a nursing assistant at Wickenburg Community Hospital. While working, she also completed Nursing School at Yavapai Community College in Prescott, Arizona. 

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Then she entered the Primary Care/Emergency Nurse Practitioner Program at Maricopa County Hospital and became a Physician Assistant. Lea believes medicine and care go together, and all patients should have a voice in their care.

Josh Jones Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Board

Brenda Crissman

Foundation Board Director

As a former corporate executive and now small business owner, Brenda has acquired a broad range of practical business skills to include areas of finance, business development, customer relations, and problem-solving.

 

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Brenda has more than two decades of developing and implementing short-term and long-term business growth strategies in both medical and behavioral health industries. Most recently, she served as Executive Director for non-profit Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation successfully leading a team through capital campaign tactics, both writing and managing grants, and stewarding multi-level donors.

Brenda is experienced and understands financial statements, budgeting, cash flow and funding security. She graduated cum laude from Northern Arizona University with degrees in Public Administration, Non-profits, and minored in law.

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Douglas J. Bell

Foundation Board Director

Doug embarked on a 30+ year military career following graduation from Eastern Washington University.  Doug holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice, and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.

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He has served a variety of command and staff positions in the US and abroad.  His overseas deployments include Bosnia, Kuwait and Afghanistan, as well as overseas postings to Germany and Korea.  

Doug is passionate about Wickenburg Community Hospital following a life changing medical event in 2023.  “I am very grateful for the dedicated staff and the resources available at Wickenburg Hospital.  Without this hospital, my life and that of my family would be drastically different.” 

Ernest James Dale Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Board

Ernest James Dale

Foundation Board Director

Ernest has lived in Wickenburg since 2016, and has 45 years of experience in executive, business and technical management. His senior executive roles have included leadership at Computer Sciences Corporation, CAP Gemini Sogeti and Electronic Data Systems. He also founded E.J. Caimen, which over 20 years became the largest manufacturer of shelf merchandising strips for retail chains. 

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His interest in serving on the Foundation board lies in assisting with the development and improvement of facilities and operations, because “the quality of medical services available at Wickenburg Hospital is important to the community and to me.”

Jay Farquhar Wickenburg Hospital Foundation Board

Jennifer Priest Mitchell, MA

Foundation Board Director

Jennifer is a community liaison with Hospice of the Valley (HOV), focusing on the West Valley. She joined the nonprofit agency in 2020 after working many years in higher education. Jennifer was part of the Supportive Care for Dementia team at HOV and is now in her second year as a liaison providing education and resources to physicians’ offices and community agencies.

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She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio and a master’s degree with a focus on Cultural Communications from Arizona State University. When she is not working, Jennifer enjoys writing, baking, and hiking with her family and dogs.

Christine Angeli Wickenburg Hospital Foundation Board

Linzie Hueter

Foundation Board Director

Linzie is a Wickenburg-based entrepreneur and licensed esthetician who brings a strong background in small business ownership and client-centered service to her role on the Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation Board. 

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With experience across operations, management, and community engagement, she offers a practical, locally grounded perspective to the Foundation’s work. Linzie co-owns two businesses with her husband, Craig: Wicked Wash, Wickenburg’s newest and largest car wash and only iClean self-serve dog wash; and Wicked RV Storage, the only indoor RV and motorhome storage facility in Wickenburg. Both ventures reflect her commitment to identifying real needs in the community and delivering reliable, high-quality services to meet them.

Her commitment to community service is grounded in a genuine interest in seeing Wickenburg thrive. As someone who lives and works in the town, she understands the nuances of rural healthcare access, the importance of local institutions, and the unique challenges that small communities face in sustaining comprehensive medical and wellness resources. Her presence on the Foundation Board underscores her belief that strong healthcare infrastructure is essential not just for individuals but for the collective well-being of the area.

Linzie’s varied background, in both aesthetics and entrepreneurial management, also gives her a well-rounded perspective on health and personal care, enabling her to contribute meaningfully to discussions around wellness programming and patient-centered care. She is especially interested in supporting initiatives that address preventative health, patient education, and community outreach.

Hunt Spear
“Wickenburg is my home and I am in a position to give back to my community. It’s the right thing to do.”

– Hunt Spear, Foundation Vice Chair