White Salmon, Wash. – Ricky Knowles – who was born and raised in White Salmon – was recently appointed by the Skyline Board of Commissions to fill a vacant position created following the retirement of longtime Skyline Health Board Commissioner, Don Schaack.

“We are very pleased to welcome Ricky to the Skyline HHealth Board, “said Jonathan Blake, Skyline Health’s Board of Commissioners chair. “As a resident who grew up in our community, he brings a long history of local perspective and expertise to the board.”

Knowles was a former U.S. Navy pilot and is a program manager for Insitu. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, a Master of Science in Project Management and a Master of Business Administration. Knowles served as Skyline Foundation’s president for the last four years and is currently a member of the foundation’s Capital Campaign Steering Committee.

“I was born and raised in White Salmon. After completing my service in the Navy, my wife Amy and I returned to our hometown. We are now raising our two children in this community and are proud – once again – to call it home. Amy is the lead pharmacist at Skyline and we are both committed to Skyline and to ensuring our community has the best quality of health care locally,” said Knowles.

While involved with the Skyline Foundation, I had the privilege of raising funds to support the programs and services of Skyline Health,” he continued. “Now, serving on the Skyline Health Board of Commissioners, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to continue this important work for the betterment of the hospital and our community.”

Blake added, “We are excited to have Ricky join this group of highly-experienced commissioners – all of whom are deeply dedicated to Skyline. However we don’t want to lose sight of saying thank you to Don Schaack, who served more than 17 years on this board. We are very grateful for his time, expertise and dedicated service to our communities.”

In addition to Knowles, the Skyline Health Board of Commissioners includes, Jonathan Blake, chair; Juliet Pouillon, vice chair; Les Dewey, secretary and Paul Pennington, M.D. In November, Blake, Pennington and Knowles will be up for election.