Business Notebook: Tool comes online to help avoid coronavirus exposure; CAPE job fair rescheduled to next month

A retired director of nursing at SoutheastHEALTH has partnered with a former colleague at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis to create an online tool they hope will help people reduce their COVID-19 exposure risks as well as overall infection rates among the general public.

Myrna Ward of Millersville retired from Southeast in late 2017 and has partnered with advanced practice nurse and research scientist Tom Ahrens of St. Louis to develop and promote Viven Health.

"Myrna and I have known each other a long time," Ahrens said, and explained how they worked together at Barnes caring for critical ill patients in the hospital's intensive care units. "We both have backgrounds in infection prevention."

Ahrens and Ward have extensive backgrounds the prevention of infections, which, they said, are a major cause of death among hospital patients, including those with COVID.

"What Myrna and I want to do is to try and stop infections before they happen," Ahrens said, noting 80% of patients admitted to the hospital through the emergency room already have an infection of some sort. "That tells us people are sick even before they get to the hospital," he said.

Using a free, interactive online tutorial, Viven Health works to make people aware of how they can improve their health and by focusing on infection control.

"We built a very simple program all about changing behavior," Ahrens said. "People know they should wash their hands, but they don't do it, so our program was designed to help them know their risks and to help them change their behavior. It's not rocket science, we're not trying to teach microbiology; we're just trying to teach people how to be safe."

Viven Health has been working on web-based health and wellness programs since 2013 with the development of online tutorials to help manage conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Work on a coronavirus module began last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company is rolling out the program nationwide through government agencies, health organizations, medical associations and other outlets, as well as to the general public.

"The Viven Health program is designed to change the paradigm of public behavior through innovative education," Ward said. "Our web-based programs are visual and interactive, and are designed to change behavior specifically regarding preventing infections."

The online programs provide scenarios a user must solve and in the process they learn how to protect themselves in everyday situations.

"With programs like ours, we can blunt the impact of pandemics and even seasonal infections," Ward said.

"Our vision is to make this (the coronavirus safety program) free to everybody and to get as many people as possible to know how to protect themselves," Ahrens said. "It's not just about coronavirus. It's about getting back to normal and about doing the simple things to return to normal — get your vaccine, get your hygiene in place and, in certain circumstances, you'll need to wear masks. If you do that, you'll pretty much be able to get back to normal."

For more information, and to experience the free interactive COVID-19 risk-reduction program and other Viven Health online resources, go to www.stopbadgerms.com.

Project C.A.P.E. event scheduled for late March

A repeat of a Project C.A.P.E. job fair has been scheduled for 2 until 6 p.m. March 25 at the Shawnee Park Center, 835 S. West End Blvd. in Cape Girardeau.

C.A.P.E. stands for Connecting Area Partners for Employment and is an opportunity for case managers from various area agencies — such as family counseling agencies, vocational rehabilitation organizations and groups representing developmentally disabled people — to meet with area employers and share what their clients have to offer as potential employees.

Kim Voelker, vice president of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, said the first Project C.A.P.E. event, held last August, gave employers the opportunity to share information about their companies with case managers in hopes of forming mutually-beneficial relationships.

"According to many area employers, recruiting and retaining employees is challenging," Voelker said. "Concurrently, case managers report their clients often experience frustrations when attempting to navigate the obstacles to gain employment."

Cape Girardeau chamber members who are interested in participating in Project C.A.P.E. can host a booth at the event free of charge.

More information about Project C.A.P.E. is available by calling the chamber office at (573) 335-3312 or by emailing Voelker at kvoelker@capechamber.com.

Parson elected co-chairman of Delta Regional Authority

Gov. Mike Parson has been elected the 2021 states co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority by the DRA's Board of Governors. In that role, Parson will work with the DRA's federal co-chairman on economic development and growth in the DRA eight-state region.

In reference to his DRA position, Parson said his focus "has always been on how we can do better for the great people of our state," adding he is "looking forward to working with the DRA to create more opportunities for people all across the Delta region."

The Delta Regional Authority is a federal-state partnership created by Congress in 2000 to promote and encourage economic development in the lower Mississippi River Delta and the Alabama Black Belt regions. DRA invests in projects supporting transportation infrastructure, basic public infrastructure, workforce training and business development.

People on the Move

Dr. Alicia Henao Uribe

Dr. Alicia Henao Uribe, a medical oncologist and hematologist, has joined Cape Medical Oncology, 211 Saint Francis Drive in Cape Girardeau, a medical practice affiliated with Saint Francis Healthcare System.

Henao Uribe has practiced medical oncology and hematology, with an emphasis in lymphoma, myeloma and breast cancer, for more than 20 years. She comes to Cape Girardeau from the Clinica de Oncologia Astorga in Medellin, Columbia, where she worked as a hematologist and medical oncologist for more than 15 years.

She earned her medical degree from the Universidad CES in Medellin in 1992, after which she completed an internal medicine residency at Boston University Medical Center in Boston in 1996. She also completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida in 1999 and a bone-marrow transplantation fellowship at the University of South Florida in Tampa in 2008.

She is board eligible in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology.

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Brad LaBruyere

Brad LaBruyere, an attorney with the Cape Girardeau law firm of Bradshaw, Steele, Cochrane, Berens & Billmeyer LC, has been promoted to partner status. His partner status became effective Jan. 1.

LaBruyere's law practice is primarily in the areas of estate planning, probate, business law, real estate, and litigation.

The law firm is located at 3113 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau.

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Three Southeast Missouri cotton industry members have been reelected to leadership positions with the National Cotton Council (NCC) for 2021.

Chris Porter, an Essex, Missouri, producer, has been reelected as the Missouri/Illinois chairman of the NCC's American Cotton Producers group.

A.C. Riley James, a cotton ginner from New Madrid, Missouri, has been reelected chairman of the NCC's Missouri/Illinois state unit. In addition, Porter has been reelected vice chairman of that unit, while Stephen Harris, a ginner from Senath, Missouri, has been reelected secretary.

Their reelections took place during the NCC's recent virtual annual meeting.

Based in Memphis, Tennessee, the NCC brings together industry representatives from 17 cotton-producing states to establish policies reflecting the common interests and promoting mutual benefits for its membership and ancillary industries.

Awards & Recognitions

Richard Kinder

Cape Girardeau native Richard D. Kinder, co-founder and executive chairman of Kinder Morgan Inc. in Houston, was one of four graduates of the University of Missouri-Columbia recently to be named to the Mizzou Hall of Fame.

Kinder Morgan is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America, transporting as much as 40% of the natural gas consumed in the U.S.

Established in 2016 to recognize University of Missouri alumni who have exhibited excellence in their field, the Mizzou Hall of Fame also inducted Kinder's partner, William Morgan; as well as Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow, a native of Kennett, Missouri; and the late Gus Ridgel, who was the first Black graduate of the University of Missouri in 1951.

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David Blakemore, a cotton ginner and president of Blakemore Cotton & Grain in Campbell, Missouri, has been recognized as the 2020 Horace Hayden National Cotton Ginner of the Year. His recognition took place during the national Cotton Ginners Association's (NCGA) recent 2021 virtual annual meeting.

The Ginner of the Year award is presented annually to a cotton ginner in recognition of service to the cotton ginning industry and the recipient's continuation of practices exemplified by Horace Hayden, a former NCGA executive secretary.

Blakemore has served as both NCGA president and chairman, has chaired several of its committees, and continues to serve as an NCGA director.

He has also served as a Cotton Incorporated director, as president of Cotton Producers of Missouri from 1994 to 1996, and as president of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association in 1999. He was named that organization's ginner of the year in 2011.

Chamber Notes

The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce's February Business After Hours membership gathering, originally scheduled for last Tuesday but postponed because of winter weather, has been rescheduled for next week.

The event is now scheduled for 5 p.m. Feb. 23 at First State Community Bank, 320 W. Main St. in Jackson. Attendees are asked to wear masks and abide by social-distancing guidelines.

• The Jackson chamber's February membership breakfast is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Friday at the Jackson Civic Center. Due to social distancing guidelines, individual reservations are required and attendance will be limited to no more than two people per member organization. Masks are also required at the Jackson Civic Center.

Reservations can be made through the chamber's website, www.jacksonmochamber.org.

Commercial building permits

The City of Cape Girardeau issued two commercial building permits during the first half of February:

• JML Remodeling LLC for the remodeling of an existing shed at Menard's, 535 Siemers Drive, with an estimated construction cost of $100,000.
• Moore Mechanical Contractors for renovations at the House of Paws, 2031 Cape LaCroix Road, Suite 104, with a cost of construction estimated at $30,000.

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