The Rev. Phillip Gilmore Sr. and Denise Cook have been elected to serve on the board of trustees at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, the hospital announced.
Gilmore leads the St. John’s Community Baptist Church in the South Ward section of Newark. He is president of New Heights Ministries, a nonprofit corporation, which completed five affordable housing projects in the cities of Newark and Orange.
He also is the inaugural president of the Bergen-Lyons-Clinton Special Improvement District Partnership, a founding member of the South Ward Clergy Alliance and a member of the Greater Newark Community Advisory Board.
Cook is a member of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center’s Patient Family Advisory Council and is currently serving as a legislative aide to Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark). She served on the Newark Police Department Domestic Violence Response Team, as well as several local hospital auxiliaries and review boards. In 2021, Cook was appointed to the High Park Garden board of directors.
She also was a Leadership Newark fellow (class of 2003) and a Neighborhood Leadership Initiative fellow. She served as board president for the Unified Vailsburg Service Organization, and chairperson of the Newark West Ward Juvenile Conference Committee.
Newark Beth CEO Darrell Terry welcomed them both.
“We are honored to welcome Pastor Phillip A. Gilmore Sr. and Ms. Denise Cook to our board of trustees,” he said. “Both were born and raised in Newark and have dedicated their lives to working within the communities we serve to have a positive impact on the lives of Newark residents.”
Frank Giantomasi, name partner at Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi and the chair of the Newark Beth board, said the experience the two bring will have impact.
“As an anchor institution, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is committed to addressing social determinants of health, such as unemployment, housing, and food insecurity,” he said. “Pastor Gilmore and Ms. Cook are addressing these issues in the communities that we serve, and their perspectives are a welcome addition to our board.”
