Gary Fredericks named first African American Chairman for the Board of Trustees at Memorial

It has been 75 years in the making for the Memorial Health System.  Gary Fredericks is the first African-American chairman of the board of trustees for Memorial Health System.

As a boy, Fredericks said he and his brother would ride their bikes in the neighborhood around Gulfport Memorial.

An investment and insurance broker, Fredericks became the first African American in Mississippi to be appointed to the hospital board of trustees in 2015.

After battling with hardships of his own, the chairman is now raising awareness about mental and physical health. “I too experience and empathize with those individuals. It’s OK to not be OK. In the African American community, hypertension, diabetes, there’s several challenges in the educational proponent that we try to engage the community on and the wellness aspect of their mental health and their physical well-being.”

Fredericks is planning to implement more programs in the community to deal with mental health.  He also wants to remind you to always show love and kindness to people in your life.