Robert “Navy Bob” Roncska

Senior Vice President, Florida Chamber Health Council

Dr. Robert “Navy Bob” Roncska serves as the Senior Vice President of the Florida Chamber Health Council leading the effort to make Florida the healthiest state in America and reach the Florida 2030 Blueprint goal of being a “Top 5 State for Well-Being.” In this role, he is responsible for advancing health outcomes through the new business-led mental health initiative for Florida that is uniting and aligning businesses, government, and nonprofits to Champion mental well-being for all Floridians. The Florida Chamber Health Council’s Mental Health initiative is a coordinated, business-led model to develop promising corporate best practices, local behavioral health systems and help funders of care implement best practices.

Bob has a very personal “why” for his passion behind addressing mental health in Florida. His mother suffered from a serious mental health condition, which also impacted his father. When Bob was 29-years old, his father unfortunately committed suicide due to depression. Since then, Bob has been dedicated to raising awareness around the importance of mental health and ensuring there are resources and solutions available to help those suffering find a path to health and wellness.

Prior to joining the Florida Chamber Health Council, Bob served the CFD Radiation Safety Executive Director/CFD-S Safety and High Reliability Executive Director at AdventHealth. As part of AdventHealth’s relationship with the Florida Chamber, Roncska served on the distinguished Florida Chamber Leadership Cabinet on Safety, Health and Sustainability Advisory Board, which helps create national standards for workplace safety and health, implements first-in-the-nation programs and promotes corporate safety culture. He had a front row seat to the need for a comprehensive mental health initiative for Florida, which inspired his move to working full-time on this effort on behalf of the Florida Chamber Health Council.

As Bob reflects on the opportunity to change the trajectory of mental health in Florida, he often looks to a national speech by President Kennedy, who 60 years ago remarked on a measure needed to combat mental illness: “We, as a nation, have neglected too long the mentally ill… It affects all of us and it affects us as a country. I am hopeful that beginning today this country will move with a great national effort in this field so vital to the welfare of our citizens.” Bob notes that it took 50 years after JFK’s speech to put in place federal legislation to combat this crisis. For 10 years, other states have aggressively combated the mental health crisis by establishing federally funded Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC), specifically providing care in the most needed communities first. Florida is ranked 49^th and has the opportunity to significantly improve how it addresses mental health across the state. Bob believes a united business community will be essential to moving Florida to the top.

Before joining the healthcare industry, Bob completed 28 years of distinguished service in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Navy Captain in 2018.  As the Pacific Fleet’s top fast attack Submarine Commodore, he was in charge of ten Los Angeles class nuclear submarines and was responsible for over 1,700 personnel with assets and budget exceeding 25 billion dollars, executing numerous unprecedented missions vital to National Security.

Before becoming Commodore, he served as the Commanding Officer of the USS TEXAS (SSN 775), a Virginia class fast attack nuclear submarine, where he successfully completed multiple deployments and conducted the first Virginia class submarine arctic certification while navigating under the north pole.  Under his Leadership, TEXAS earned the best performing ship award in the squadron and had the highest personnel retention and lowest attrition for two consecutive years in the Pacific Fleet. “Navy Bob,” warmly dubbed by the 43rd President, George W. Bush, served as the Naval Aide to the President of the United States. Responsible for the safety of the Office of the President, handling the most sensitive and vital national security programs while carrying the “Nuclear Football.”

Bob is actively involved in his community and completed his Executive Doctorate of Business Administration at Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in 2023. He has been married to his wife Stephanie for over 29 years and has two children, Sophia and Zachary. Currently, he and his family reside in Winter Park, FL.

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