AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Clifford Porter, M.D., Ph.D., Bryan Sisk, DNP, Candice Smith and Cheletta Watkins, M.D., to the Health Professions Workforce Coordinating Council. Their terms will expire at the governor’s pleasure.
The council is tasked with developing a strategic approach to ensure a thriving health care system and health professions workforce in Texas.
Clifford Porter, of Austin, is a physician at Texas Direct Medical Care and a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
He is a former member of the Free Market Medical Association and the Christian Medical & Dental Association and volunteers on medical mission trips with Austin Christian Fellowship and Austin Ridge Churches.
Porter is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, with 30 years of service in the Reserve, U.S. Army and Texas Army National Guard.
He earned a bachelor’s and master’s in history from the University of Saskatchewan, a medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School, and a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate School.
Bryan Sisk, of Houston, is senior vice president and chief nurse executive at Memorial Hermann Health System.
He is a member of the Texas Nurses Association and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership and a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
Sisk also serves on the board of the Daisy Foundation and founded the Never Give Up Endowment for Veterans. He is a 20-year U.S. Army veteran and earned a bachelor’s in nursing from Arkansas Tech University, a master’s in public health from Texas A&M University, and a Doctor of Nursing from Northern Kentucky University.
Candice Smith, of Canyon, is CEO of Deaf Smith County Hospital District. She serves on GETAC’s Disaster Preparedness and Response Committee and the Emergency Medical Task Force, and is a board member for Deaf Smith County’s CASA, the Panhandle Regional Advisory Council, the Amarillo College Advisory Board and the Hereford Day Care Board.
Smith earned a bachelor’s in nursing from West Texas A&M University, a master’s in nursing administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Rural Health Chief Nursing Officer Certification from the National Rural Hospital Association.
Cheletta Watkins, of Forney, is executive medical director for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.
She is a member of the American Board of Family Medicine, Texas Medical Association, Dallas County Medical Society and the John Sealy School of Medicine Alumni Association. Watkins serves on the board of the Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness Center and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
She earned a bachelor’s in biology from the University of Texas at Austin and a medical degree from UT Medical Branch at Galveston, where she also completed her residency in family medicine.
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