Robert E. Hill, Jr., Named Chair of Baptist Health Board; Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., Named Vice Chair

Jacksonville, Florida, March 12, 2010 -- Robert E. Hill, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Acosta Sales and Marketing Company, has been named chair of the Baptist Health Board of Directors. Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., chief executive officer of The First Tee and executive vice president of the World Golf Foundation, has been named vice chair of the board.

Hill was named to the Baptist Health board in 2007 and has served on the Baptist Medical Center Downtown board since 2006; he was named chair of the Baptist Downtown board in 2009 and will continue in that role. Hill is a long-time sales and marketing professional who has served Acosta in a variety of key capacities. Before joining Acosta, he served as president of Siler Brokerage, a family business since 1927, and managed sales for numerous U.S. manufacturers such as Minute Maid, Clorox, Heinz, and Kellogg; Acosta acquired Siler in 1994. After a series of positions with increasing responsibility, he was appointed Acosta President and Chief Operating Officer in 2004. He became president and CEO on January 1, 2009.

Hill serves on numerous industry-related advisory boards and is active in our community. He serves on the Board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northeast Florida and is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville (2006).

Barrow was named to the Baptist Health board in 2009. He has served on the Baptist Medical Center Downtown Board of Directors since 2006 and will continue to serve on that board. Barrow has worked in the Jacksonville community since 2000, when he was named executive director of The First Tee, a positive youth development initiative of the World Golf Foundation; he was later promoted to CEO of The First Tee and as executive vice president of the World Golf Foundation. Barrow, while in Jacksonville, has served on the board of the Jacksonville Urban League and a commissioner of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC).

Prior to joining The First Tee, Barrow served as president and chief operating officer of IZZO systems, a company that developed and introduced the IZZO Dual Strap and integrated carrying systems. While living in Denver, he also served as a board member and chairman of the Colorado Health Facilities Financing Authority, which issued tax-exempt bonds for the state's 501(c)3 hospitals. In 1988, Barrow published a biography on his father, Joe Louis: 50 Years an American Hero.

Hugh Greene, president and CEO of Baptist Health, said, "We are excited to have Robert and Joe lead the Baptist Health Board of Directors. They have faithfully served Baptist Health as board members and we look forward to their new roles with the health system governance."