History of the PEL Fund

PEL Fund Leadership

• Kim Biss, MD Chair
• Beth Girgis, MD Vice Chair
• Chris Morrison, MD Secretary /Treasurer
• Jeremy Bowers, MD
• Michael Brown, MD
• Jaimie Mercado, MD
• Mark Reiskind, MD Past Chair
• David Parrish, MD-Past Chair
• Christine W. Sabo, Executive Director
• Trina Espinola, MD

PEL Advisory Council

• Trina Espinola, MD Council Chair
• Larry Davis, MD
• Fred Guerrier, MD

The Medical Staff at Bayfront Medical Center has had a long history of supporting continuing clinical and medical education at the century old nonprofit hospital, both individually and as a group. A teaching and trauma hospital, Bayfront was known equally for the high acuity of its patients and the extraordinary skill of its medical and clinical staff in caring for these patients. These resources gave hundreds of individuals’ access to knowledge critical not only to their success but also to positive outcomes for their patients.

The Medical Staff established an endowment with the Bayfront Health Foundation in 1997 so there would be a perpetual funding source dedicated to medical education and nursing scholarships. A public charity named Bayfront Medical Center Medical Staff, Inc. was established as a 501c3 in 2014 with the advent of the sale of Bayfront Medical Center to a for profit healthcare company. The physician leaders saw an opportunity to carry forth the philanthropic legacy they created with a renewed charitable purpose: to support and promote education in areas related to the practice of medicine and other health care associated fields.