Biographies of Board of Directors

Steve Sischka - Chair
Mr. Sischka received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Portland in Oregon and a Master of International Management from Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona. Since 1980, he has been the Owner of Olsen's Grain, Inc., a five store retail chain located in north central Arizona. He is married to a native of Prescott Arizona, Kathy, and has two children, Kelly and Mark. He is a long time member of the Prescott Frontier Rotary and has also been deeply involved at various times with the Rotary at the district level, Boy Scouts of America, Prescott Center for the Arts, Prescott Chamber of Commerce, and served on the Prescott City Council for eight years. Mr. Sischka has been a member of the Board of Directors at YRMC since 2013 and is proud to have had the chance to vote for the affiliation with Dignity Health/CommonSpirit. He was Frontier Rotarian of the year twice and received the BSA Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service to scouting. He has been a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church since he arrived in Prescott in 1980 and hopes that he has finally achieved “Prescott Local” status in Everybody’s Hometown.

Marnie Uhl - Vice Chair

Marnie is the President and CEO of the Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce.  She has been in Prescott Valley since February  2006 having relocated from the White Mountains where she was the Executive Director and CEO of the Springerville-Eagar Regional Chamber of Commerce for 7.5 years.

 Marnie moved to Arizona in 1998 where she embarked on a second career.  As a Chamber of Commerce Executive, she graduated from the Institute of Organization Management in 2005 and served on its Board of Trustees.   Marnie is a graduate of Project CENTRL, an Arizona Rural Leadership Development program and Prescott Area Leadership.  She has her Accredited Chamber Executive professional designation through the Western Association of Chamber Executives and the Prescott Valley Chamber is an accredited chamber through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. She holds an AA in Administration of Justice from East Los Angeles College.  Marnie received Prescott Area Leadership’s Woman of the Year award in 2017.

Marnie is member of the Yavapai College Foundation board, the PV Early Bird Lions Club and serves on the board for Prescott Center for the Arts.   Marnie supports multiple civic organizations throughout the Quad-cities and is the host for radio and television shows.   In her spare time she has two dogs that keep her busy and loves performing in Community Theater.   Marnie is a two-year breast cancer survivor and is passionate about the YRMC BreastCare Center.

MARYLOU MERCADO ED.D - Secretary
Dr. Marylou Mercado is a Hispanic first-generation community college graduate and recently completed a Doctor of Education in 2018. She currently serves as the Vice President of Workforce and Health Sciences with Yavapai College.

Throughout Dr. Mercado’s journey as a non-traditional student, she has had women in the roles of professors and administrative administrative assistants walk alongside and stand with her through every challenge, offering encouragement so that she could complete her educational goals for quality of life. After spending 28 years in the community college environment, Dr. Mercado believes that education is the empowerment and equalizer of overcoming societal inequalities. Helping students achieve their educational goals and fostering leadership qualities and abilities in women are paramount to her role and responsibilities in higher education. She is passionate about seeing women become all they desire to be by investing time with them, hearing their concerns, understanding their visions and goals, and providing resources so that they may achieve all they are meant to achieve in fulfilling their destiny. For Dr. Mercado, there is no greater joy.

James Howard, Ph.D.

Dr. James Howard has been a teacher, coach and administrator for forty years.  For 22 years, he was the Superintendent of Schools with Kearney, Nebraska, Prescott, Arizona and the Aqua Fria School District located in Avondale, Goodyear and Litchfield Park, Arizona.

He is active in the Prescott Community as the Co-Director and Founding Partner of the Trinity Christian Preschool, the Blue Grass Events Association Board of Directors, YMCA Board of Directors, past President of the Prescott Pops Symphony, and the Chairperson for the successful Bond Issue effort to establish a Joint Technology Educational District (JTED) for the students of Yavapai County.

Jim is the past President of the Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce, recipient of the Governor’s Award of Appreciation, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a member of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Omaha Central High School Hall of Fame for his life accomplishments.

Travis Messina, MBA

Travis Messina is an executive leader with broad US domestic and International experience in identifying strategic solutions to complex business challenges. He is an innovative entrepreneur recognized for developing global business platforms, leading organizational change and operational improvements. As an industry thought leader he is focused on the global interconnectivity of healthcare and the development of strategies and business platforms to address the scarcity of resources; targeting improved levels of health and wellness for communities.

With experience in many global regions outside the US including India, MENA, Europe, and Latin America, Travis appreciates the nuances of different healthcare delivery systems, while understanding that culture plays a major factor in determining the success of fundamental change. He has extensive experience in the development of entrepreneurial businesses, new healthcare delivery networks and innovative facility solutions that operate successfully and sustainably.

Currently Travis is the System SVP for CommonSpirit leading the National Real Estate Services platform; a fully integrated real estate services program employing more than 1,500 professionals delivering, facility management, energy and infrastructure, planning design & construction, real estate strategy & development, and real estate administrative services.

Travis has a Global Strategy MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and BS degree in Construction Engineering from Colorado State University, along with a certificate of Strategic Leadership from the Center of Creative Leadership, and a Senior Leadership Development certificate from INSEAD.

Pierre Tibi, MD – Chief of Staff

Dr. Tibi received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Rochester in Neurosciences and his MD from The University of Pittsburgh.  He is Board Certified in General and Cardiothoracic Surgery after completing both residencies at The University of Rochester. 

He began practice in Phoenix AZ and became Managing Partner of Phoenix Cardiac Surgery (PCS) and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Good Samaritan Medical Center from 1996 until 2007.  In 2007, he was recruited to start the open-heart program at Yavapai Regional Medical Center and is currently Chief of the Medical Staff at Dignity Health Yavapai Regional Medical Center.  Dr. Tibi has been involved in the development of numerous open-heart programs throughout Arizona.

Dr. Tibi has had a long interest in Patient Blood Management (PBM – performing open heart surgery without the need for transfusions) and has developed PBM programs throughout hospitals in Arizona.  He lectures both nationally and internationally on PBM and is a Past President of The Society for the Advancement of Blood Management and lead author of the 2021 STS/SCA/AmSECT/SABM Update to the Clinical Practice Guidelines on Patient Blood Management.

Dr. Tibi enjoys being part of the Prescott community and its development and is active in numerous local foundations.

Brian Tiffany, MD, PhD

As the Chief Physician Executive for the Dignity Health Southwest Division, Dr. Tiffany advances clinical excellence, performance, and alignment throughout our Arizona and Nevada markets; builds strong physician relationships and engagement; enhances care delivery throughout the division; and contributes to our growth and strategy efforts.

Dr. Tiffany has been a valuable member of the Dignity Health team for many years. He has served as chief medical officer for AGH Phoenix since December 2018, helping to lead the clinical operations of AGH Laveen, AGH Mesa and 12 hospital satellite emergency departments. He has seen AGH through tremendous growth, led several service and quality initiatives, and helped to build a strong clinical team. Dr. Tiffany has played a key role in our COVID-19 response efforts, serving as part of the Southwest Division's Incident Command and leading a research study on the pandemic's impact on healthcare workers.

Dr. Tiffany has been practicing emergency medicine since 1990 and working with Dignity Health East Valley since 2003. He was a member of the medical staff at Chandler Regional and Mercy Gilbert Medical Centers; and served as chairman of the East Valley Regional Institutional Review Board.

A graduate of Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Tiffany received his Doctor of Philosophy from Wayne State University. His experience, expertise, and enthusiasm will serve him well in this new role.

Anthony Torres, MD, FACP
President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Anthony V. Torres is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Dignity Health Yavapai Regional Medical Center (DHYRMC) as of July 10, 2022  He was formerly the Chief Medical Officer at  of Dignity Health Yavapai Regional Medical Center from July 1, 2016 through July 9, 2022.  Prior to becoming the Chief Medical Officer at YRMC, Dr. Torres was the Medical Director of Yavapai Regional Medical Center PhysicianCare from October 2013 through December 2016. 

Dr. Torres was a member of the Medical Staff at DHYRMC from 2006-2023 and practiced in the PhysicianCare Internal Medicine clinic from 2009-2015. Prior to joining PhysicianCare, Dr. Torres was in group practice in Walnut Creek, CA from 1993-2006. As the President & CEO of DHYRMC, Dr. Torres is currently an Honorary member of the DHYRMC Medical Staff.

Dr. Torres received his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California in 1979. He graduated from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in 1987 with his medical degree and completed his Residency/Internship at New York Medical College, St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center, New York, NY in 1991 and was Chief Resident from 1991-1992. Dr. Torres completed his Sports Medicine Fellowship training from Hunter S.P.O.R.T.S Medicine Center, Fairview Heights, IL in 1993. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Torres currently serves on the Prescott Chamber of Commerce Board.