CRESCENT CITY Del Norte County Sheriff James Maready and two other community members have been elected to the Sutter Coast Hospital board of trustees.

The 12-member volunteer board sets hospital policy and helps guide future development, hospital officials said.

Maready is a lifelong resident of the county. He has worked as a deputy sheriff and a sergeant. He owned his own landscaping business before assuming the position of sheriff.

I became a public servant with the understanding that I could be a positive influence with the community, Maready said. I feel that as a trustee I can bring to the board a consumers outlook, as well as that of a law enforcement professional and administrator.

Fawn Morris joins the board with a record of community involvement.

A retired teacher and small business owner, Morris has served a president of the Del Norte County Fair Board, past president of the Taxpayers League, past president of the Republican Women and of the Republican Central Committee, and was appointed by the governor of California to the Native American Heritage Commission.

Morris said she sought the board position because she wants to maintain good health service to all people in the community.

The third person elected to the board, Gail Hedding, comes with a background in health care.

Hedding, the finance director for the city of Brookings, has worked for United Healthcare of Missouri and The Jewish Hospital of St. Louis.

In addition, Hedding served on the board of directors and as chairman of the finance committee for Aetna Partners Health Plan.

I wanted to be on the Sutter Coast board to provide input that makes the delivery of health care in the Southern Oregon and Northern California area more accessible and the highest quality to the citizens, Hedding said.

Community board members terms last for three years, with a bylaw option of serving up to nine consecutive years.