Meet the Team

Ronnie Shure, PharmBS, President

Ronnie Shure has been an active member of HCFA-WA since 2012; and he has been involved in the grassroots movement for universal health care since 1972. He worked as a pharmacist providing care to underserved populations in public health, behavioral health, and substance abuse programs for 42 years. Instead of retirement, he has transitioned to become an advocate for social justice in health care. He also serves as a member of the Board of Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action, a Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Health Care is a Human Right coalition, and an active participant in the work of many of our healthcare allies across the state and nation. Most importantly, his retirement transition allows him the joy of spending time with his wife and daughters and grandchildren. He can be reached at [email protected].

Chris Covert-Bowlds, MD, Vice President

Chris is a family doctor at Kaiser Permanente Northgate Medical Center in Seattle, and has seen many people suffer terrible health problems and die prematurely, due to lack of any or adequate health insurance. Chris believes Americans all deserve affordable health coverage, as a human right, and we need to tell the stories to move people’s hearts and minds to achieve this life-saving goal of social justice. Chris has practiced in public health, low income, and private practice clinics, and will always remember the suffering of two women who died very early: one due to breast cancer, and the other due to untreated heart disease, because of their lack of health insurance. That is an outrage, and should not happen to anyone. Every American has a right to attorney, if accused of a crime, and every American should have the right to health care. Chris can be reached at [email protected].

Peter Lucas, MD, Treasurer

Peter has practiced psychiatry for 36 years. He attended Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and completed his residency at UC San Diego. Subsequently he worked at the National Institute of Mental Health and was on the faculty at UC Los Angeles. He has worked in a number of settings including research, teaching, and administration but most of the time has been spent in clinical practice. For 19 years he worked at Group Health Cooperative. Peter, in addition to being on the board of HCFA where he serves as chair of the fundraising committee, is involved in other progressive causes including the environmental crisis and performs mental health evaluations for asylum seekers. He lives on Bainbridge Island and in Mexico. He can be reached at [email protected].

Attorney Dennis Dellwo

Dennis has a long and successful career in law and community service, and has received extensive training in mediation and other alternative dispute resolution methods. He served as Spokane’s 3rd Legislative District State Representative from 1983 until 1996, where he chaired both the Health Care and Banking/Insurance Committees, served on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and was a ranking member of the Law and Justice Committee. In the Health Care Committee, he developed the legislation for the Basic Health Plan, the Children’s Health Program, the Children’s Vaccination Program, and the Health Services Act. More recently, Denny served on the Pathway to Universal Health Care Work Group. He can be reached at [email protected].

Ron Lovell

Moving to Washington in Oct. 2021, Ron has been retired since 2017. Before retirement, he was employed in a variety of positions since 1965. Most recently, he was a Member Engagement Specialist and Lobbyist for a 3000+ member REALTOR association in Chesapeake, VA. Other positions included: Operations Manager for a small home healthcare startup, Computer Resource Manager for a major real estate firm, and an associate administrator for an inpatient psychiatric hospital. He served in the US Navy as an Electrics Technician and Instructor. He brings many technical and organizational skills to HCFAWA. He lives in Bellevue, WA, and can be reached at [email protected].

Connie Rock

Connie serves on the Communications committee. With a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a master’s degree in digital communication from the University of Washington, she has a passion for storytelling and social justice. Connie previously served as the Secretary for the Health Care for All social action committee at Temple Beth Am in northeast Seattle. A native of Seattle, she also has a passion for travel. Having been to more than 30 countries, she’s always up for the next adventure.

Marcia Stedman

Marcia is a retired customer relations professional with a life-long interest in equity issues. She was a keen observer of the Affordable Care Act debates in Congress, and when single-payer advocates were forcibly removed from the room, she knew there had to be a better way to high-quality, affordable, and accessible health care: through the states. She looked around and in 2012 joined HCFA-WA, where she has served on the Policy and Outreach Committees. She joined the Board of Directors in 2014 and served as President of the Board from 2017-2021. She now co-chairs the Communications Committee.

Hal Stockbridge, MD

Hal serves on the Policy Team and the Fundraising Committee. He is a long-time advocate of universal health care and is active in the South Sound area.

Sarah K. (Sherry) Weinberg, MD

Sherry is co-chair of the Policy Team, editor of our quarterly HCFA- Ed Fund Newsletter, and President of the HCFA Education Fund. A retired private-practice pediatrician, she is a long-time advocate for universal health care.

Sydnie Jones

Sydnie is HCFA-WA’s communications specialist and webmaster. She has a background in sports and advocacy writing. After studying English at the University of New Orleans, she ultimately graduated with a BFA from the Art Institute of Seattle. Advocacy writing has been a constant for her since graduation and working for HCFA-WA marks her first foray into non-profit work. She can be reached at [email protected]

Lonnie Johns-Brown

Lonnie Johns-Brown has lobbied in Olympia since 1985, representing over 20 nonprofits in the areas of health care, human services and women’s rights. She also served as the Legislative Director for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) for six years. Since retiring from the OIC, she has returned to lobbying and consulting, with a scaled back client load. Besides HCFA-WA, Ms. Johns-Brown currently represents Planned Parenthood, Upstream, Quaker Voice for Washington and Washington Against Sexual Exploitation. A native Washingtonian, she currently resides in Tumwater.