Health Care District Names Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer

The Health Care District of Palm Beach County announces the promotion of Candice Abbott to Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and welcomes Bernabe A. Icaza as Vice President and General Counsel, as well as Heather Bokor as Vice President and Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer.   Ms. Abbott joined the safety net health care system earlier this year as the Vice President, Chief Clinical Integration Officer where she led the Revenue Cycle, Referral Management, HEDIS Quality and Patient Engagement teams.  Ms. Abbott has over 20 years of finance experience partnering with hospital, physician and community leaders. She has expertise aligning innovative care delivery models and financial operations, producing cost-savings while executing the organization’s strategic initiatives. Ms. Abbott’s prior leadership experience includes serving as the Regional Executive Director for Cleveland Clinic Florida Integrated Health Network and Assistant Vice President of Finance for Martin Health System. Ms. Abbott has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and is completing her Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management. She is certified in several Epic revenue cycle applications and is a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).

Mr. Icaza specializes in health law with over 20 years of experience. Before joining the Health Care District, he was in private practice where he represented health systems, hospitals, academic medical centers and physician group practices in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and complex business transactions. Prior to that, Mr. Icaza worked for UF Health Shands, Tenet Healthcare Corporation and Broward Health. Mr. Icaza is board certified in Health Law by The Florida Bar and is a past chair of The Florida Bar Health Law Certification Committee and a past chair of The Florida Bar Health Law Section. He graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law with a health law concentration where he also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Political Science and Spanish and a Master of Arts in Economics. 

Mrs. Bokor brings over 15 years of experience specializing in hospitals and health systems. In her new role, she is responsible for planning, oversight, and coordination of activities to drive ethics and effective compliance with regulatory requirements and policies across the safety net system. Since 2019, Mrs. Bokor served as the interim Vice President of Compliance and Privacy and Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer for the University of Florida Health System. At UF Health, she managed ethics and compliance programs across all entities and affiliates including hospitals, physician practices, and health colleges. Mrs. Bokor previously served as the Senior Director of Compliance Services and Director of Compliance for UF Health Hospitals. The South Florida native also served on the leadership teams of Tenet Healthcare’s Good Samaritan Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center as the hospitals’ Compliance and Privacy Officer. Mrs. Bokor graduated from the University of Florida with a Master of Science in Management with a concentration in Health Care Risk Management and a Bachelor of Science in Health Science. Mrs. Bokor is also Certified in Healthcare Compliance by the Compliance Certification Board. 

“On behalf of the Health Care District and the Board of Commissioners, I congratulate Candice for her strong performance leading our revenue cycle and taking on more responsibility as CFO,” said Darcy J. Davis, Chief Executive Officer of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County.  “I am excited to welcome Bernabe, who brings extensive experience in healthcare law, and Heather, who has a rich background in compliance at large, complex healthcare systems. In their leadership roles, they will each be an asset to our safety net system and the community we serve.”