Dr. Ralph L. Howell Jr. has been elected as vice chairman of the Virginia Health Care Foundation Board of Trustees.

Howell is the owner of R.L. Howell DDS & Associates, a family operated dental practice providing the greater Suffolk community with comprehensive general dentistry.

Howell has received the following service awards: Volunteer of the Year by the Western Tidewater Free Clinic; Richard F. Simmons Memorial Award by the Tidewater Dental Association; and the Leadership Award by the Virginia Dental Association.

The Virginia Health Care Foundation is a nonprofit public/private partnership dedicated to increasing access to primary health care for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians.

The Foundation was initiated by the General Assembly and its Joint Commission on Health Care in 1992. Since its inception, it has funded 322 community-based projects throughout the commonwealth, and its programs and partnerships have touched the lives of more than 600,000 uninsured Virginians.