Teton Valley Health Care - Board of Trustees

Michael Whitfield

Michael is a fourth generation native of Teton Valley. His family has benefitted from Teton Valley Hospital since its inception. He has Bachelors and Masters degrees in Biology from University of Utah and Idaho State University respectively, and completed course work for a PhD in Conservation Biology from Montana State University. He has taught courses in ecology for three universities. Michael was one of the original EMTs trained at Teton Valley Hospital, where he volunteered for a decade, and was also one of the original locally trained Hospice volunteers. He has assisted in the start-up of multiple non-profits and has extensive board and staff experience on local and national organizations. Michael was the founding Board President and the former long-time Executive Director of the Teton Regional Land Trust. He is currently Coordinator of the Heart of the Rockies Initiative, a collaboration of 24 land trusts in the Northern Rockies. He also serves on the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Michael and his wife Liz enjoy outdoor activities of all sorts, particularly skiing and hiking.

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Mitch Felchle

Mitch Felchle has pre-law undergraduate degrees in History and Economics, and a law degree from the University of Minnesota. His varied career includes experience in law, marketing, strategic planning and startup operations with a Fortune 500 company, and nearly 10 years of consulting with nonprofits in strategic alliances and planning, marketing and revenue enhancement, including fundraising. Clients included numerous healthcare organizations in areas of long term care, services for the developmentally disabled, addiction treatment and hospital/clinic providers, including Fairview Health Services in MN, a 7 hospital and clinics operation. Mitch's Teton Valley work has been with Friends of the Teton River and, most recently, Huntsman Springs.

Mitch has been a Teton Valley landowner for nearly 30 years, a homeowner for 20 years (when he and his wife Dawn were married). He became a full-time resident in 2004; prior to that, he and Dawn were residents of Minneapolis. Their son, Brody, lives in Chicago. He and his wife enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, biking and traveling.

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Bob Benedict

Bob Benedict moved to Idaho Falls in 1976 and built his Teton Valley home in 1994. Bob attended Iowa State University where he earned a Bachelor's degree and went to University of California at Berkeley for a Master's degree in chemical engineering.

Bob worked in private industry with several small companies in eastern Idaho and was a part of a start-up company. After private industry, Bob worked for Argonne National Laboratory. During this time, He worked on many complex projects and was the site manager with responsibility for over 600 people and a budget greater $120 million per year. After retirement in 2006, Bob has continued to consult for various companies and is Teton County Commissioner. He and his wife Jean love to ski, hike, mountain bike and whitewater raft.

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Deorah Ray Malheiro

Dr. Deborah Ray Malheiro moved to Teton Valley from California 2 years ago, after visiting the area for the last 10 years. She received her BS degree in Biology from University of California, San Diego and MD from University of California, Irvine College of Medicine. Dr. Ray Malherio completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology and Fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at University of California, Irvine Medical Center. She recently retired from medical practice as a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist (high-risk Obstetrics) with Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Since moving to Teton Valley, she and her husband, Bob, and have participated in volunteer work with several valley conservation organizations and enjoy cycling, mountain biking, hiking, skiing, fly-fishing, outdoor photography and just generally being in the mountains.

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Mark Trupp

Mark Trupp was raised in the Newdale area of Eastern Idaho. He started farming on his own as a junior in high school. He moved to Teton County in 1983 and has been farming here ever since. Mark brings leadership and experience to Teton County. As a County Commissioner for 10 years, Mark served in many capacities. Mark is also very involved in numerous civic involvements throughout the community, and he has been a certified ski instructor at Grand Targhee since 1990!

Mark stays focused on preserving the western values of Teton County, while trying to incorporate the growth and needs of the future. A large part of Mark's future is his three children, two of whom graduated from the Teton County school district.

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Brooke Blackwelder

Brooke first moved to Teton Valley in 1995. She left the valley and lived in Boise for 9 years before returning with her husband Mike in 2007 to be closer to her family. Originally from Florida, Brooke has lived in Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Arizona. Brooke received her Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Northern Arizona University. After college she began a professional cycling career, competing for the United States in several International Events and winning a Gold Medal in the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia. After retiring from the race circuit, Brooke began a catering business in Boise, Idaho and also began a Women's Cycling Program that helped dozens of Idaho women move into the Professional ranks in cycling. She started a new profession in Real Estate in 2006 and moved to Driggs the following year to work for Huntsman Springs. Brooke and Mike enjoy biking, skiing, hiking, snowboarding, trail running, fishing, rock climbing, hunting, gardening, cooking and fine wines.

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