“Always seek expert advice.”

(Floating Doctors internal motto from Day 1)

We are fortunate to have the guidance of a highly dedicated group of professionals who give their expertise to help ensure that Floating Doctors grows in accordance with our mission.

OUR 2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Barbara Sutton: President of the Board
Barbara Sutton, is an experienced surgical ICU nurse with additional expertise in procedural cardiac nursing. She received her BSN from Villanova University and has worked 40 years at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Over the last 10 years, her passion for nursing has led her to volunteer for medical-surgical missions in impoverished areas of South America and Africa. She has served on these missions as the surgical coordinator for postoperative care and developed educational material and guidelines for nurse volunteers.

Barbara, also known as Samm by her friends, lives with her husband Peter in Newtown Square Pa. She has worked with Global Health Ministry, LAUGHH Foundation and International Medical Relief. She also serves on the advisory board for Salud y Paz in Guatemala.

Randal Schwartz: Treasurer

Randal Schwartz joined the Board of Floating Doctors in 2016 and became the Treasurer in 2017.  He is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law and Marshall School of Business.  Randal started his career as a lawyer working on corporate and real estate transactions.  Subsequently, he served as a Vice President at FirstService Financial and as the Director of Operations and Finance for a technology start-up.  He currently works in real estate.

Laura Hamady

Renee Kaswan, DVM, MS

Dr. Kaswan joined the Floating Doctors Board of Directors in 2015 after working on a mission with both veterinary and medical volunteers.  Floating Doctors is responsive to a multitude of health needs;  since animals and people live together closely in the tropics, they share parasite infections.  Preventing and treating those infections is paramount to providing good health to the human population. ​Dr. Kaswan retired as a professor of veterinary ophthalmology at UGA Veterinary College and is a founder of Georgia Veterinary Specialists, a subsidiary of Blue Pearl Veterinary Specialists.  Her accomplishments include the invention and translation to practice of the ophthalmic products Optimmune for canine dry eye disorders and its human counterpart, Restasis for chronic dry eye in people – this work was significant and gratifying​. However, ​like most of the medical volunteers who work with Floating Doctors, Dr. Kaswan rediscovered the innate human joy that comes from alleviating suffering ​and feeling appreciated by people who live in resource-limited settings.

Dr. George LaBrot, MD

Dr. LaBrot has practiced medicine in Santa Monica, Ca. since 1978. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. His international work began with Mother Theresa in India. He has volunteered in Cambodia, Africa, and Haiti and is now active in Panama with Floating Doctors. Dr. LaBrot is a regular lecturer for the Remote Care Education CME program, training physicians in the approach to international health care. It is with great joy that he serves with his son, Dr. Ben in Floating Doctors.

Paula LaBrot
Paula LaBrot has served on the board of Floating Doctors since its founding in 2009. She has an extensive background in film and video production. Paula, currently, writes a newspaper column…All Things Connected. Her writing focuses on the tech trends of today.

Dr. Ryan McCormick

Dr. Ryan McCormick grew up in Los Angeles and was a high school student of Ben’s many years ago.  Over the years, they developed a close friendship and he became a founding member of Floating Doctors working as the Vice President. After working for a year rebuilding Southern Wind, he worked in the clinics in Haiti and Honduras before going to medical school at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. While there, he took the lessons he learned in providing patient care and expanded on them completing additional education in Emergency Medicine, Wilderness Emergency Medicine, and Trauma Management.  After graduating he returned home to Los Angeles working with Ben’s father, Dr. George LaBrot, at UCLA and doing clinical research at LA County/USC Hospital for a year.  He is currently completing his Medical License Exams and working as the Research Director for the California Center for Sleep Disorders, and plans to apply to start a residency in Emergency Medicine in July 2019. He works in Panama with the crew several times a year and each time looks forward to going more. He also co-founded RemoteCareEducation, a CME Project with Floating Doctors to train clinicians to function in remote medical mission environments and coordinates training modules for rotating residents who participate in the accredited course from Remote Care Education and stay on to continue their training for the remainder of their elective rotation.