Health briefs

TILLMAN NAMED EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

Roxanne Tillman, clinical casework assistant II for the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau, was selected as the Missouri Veterans Commission employee of the month for July. She was honored in a July 24 ceremony at the veterans home, where she accepted a plaque from Bryan Hunt, deputy director of the Missouri Veterans Commission.

BJELICH ELECTED TO HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES SOCIETY

Steven C. Bjelich, Saint Francis Healthcare System president and chief executive officer, was elected to the Healthcare Executives Study Society, one of the oldest voluntary educational organizations available to health care professionals. The group seeks to advance the state and art of executive leadership and influence the development of health care public policy. Membership is by nomination and election by the current membership and continues to include executives from prominent hospitals, systems and associations, as well as the senior executives of the American Hospital Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare organizations. Bjelich has been president and CEO at Saint Francis since 1999 and has more than 30 years of extensive health care experience at the senior management level.

SOUTHEAST CONVENIENT CARE OPENS IN JACKSON

SoutheastHEALTH's new Convenient Care in Jackson began serving patients Aug. 12. The clinic, at 2432 E. Main St., fills a void in the growing Jackson market for additional, unscheduled, extended-hour medical care. The clinic provides an alternative to emergency room visits for patients who do not require complete hospital facility services and eliminates the wait times often associated with an emergency room visit. Clinic hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. Services provided include adult and pediatric care, physicals, sports medicine, X-ray, lab services and more. The clinic is staffed by family nurse practitioners.

SUEDEKUM MARKS 25 YEARS WITH BENNETT DENTISTRY

Linda Suedekum of Cape Girardeau celebrated 25 years of employment with Bennett Family Dentistry in Cape Girardeau. Suedekom joined the dental practice in August 1988 and has worked as a dental assistant and more recently as lab manager.

MORAN RETIRES FROM FOUNDATION, REPLACEMENT NAMED

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Blair Morgan, executive director of the Missouri Delta Medical Center Foundation, retired at the end of August after nearly 20 years in the position, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported. Marcie Lawson of Sikeston was hired to replace Morgan as executive director. Lawson previously worked for the American Cancer Society for eight years.

SAINT FRANCIS EARNS BEST PLACE TO WORK TITLE

Saint Francis Medical Center was named one of the 100 "Best Places to Work in Healthcare" by Modern Healthcare magazine for the sixth consecutive year, an honor no other employer in Missouri has achieved. The program is open to companies across the health care industry with at least 25 employees. Saint Francis was the only hospital in the state named to the list for 2012 or 2013, and is one of just three hospitals in the nation to appear on the list every year since 2008. To earn membership in the group, Saint Francis' policies, practices, benefits and demographics were thoroughly reviewed. In addition, a randomly selected group of 350 employees were asked in-depth questions about eight core areas: leadership and planning, culture and communications, role satisfaction, working environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, pay and benefits and overall satisfaction. Modern Healthcare will reveal the ranked order of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare by company size Oct. 24 at a special awards gala in Atlanta. It will post the results on www.modernhealthcare.com and publish them in a supplement to Modern Healthcare magazine Oct. 28.

FITNESS PLUS FINISHES SECOND IN WALKING CHALLENGE

Saint Francis Medical Center's Fitness Plus finished second in the Worldwide Walking Challenge sponsored by the Medical Fitness Association, according to a news release from the hospital. The Worldwide Walking Challenge encouraged participants to walk 70,000 steps in seven days during the ninth annual Medical Fitness Week April 22 to 28. Each participant wore a pedometer to keep track of the number of steps they took each day. Fitness Plus recruited more than 700 participants who took a total of 38,169,706 steps during the weeklong challenge. The team set an initial goal of 30 million steps. Fitness Plus will be recognized for its in November at the organization's 22nd annual International Conference in San Diego.

HEALTH CLINIC ADDS NURSE PRACTITIONER

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- Karen Tracey, a family nurse practitioner, is now working with Dr. Andrew Painter at Portageville Community Care Clinic. She previously worked at SEMO Health Network in New Madrid, Mo., for six years.

BANDERMANN NAMED DIRECTOR OF AMBULATORY SERVICES

Jason Bandermann was named director of ambulatory services at Saint Francis Medical Center has. In this role, he will be responsible for the oversight of Cape Primary Care, Immediate Convenient Care in Cape Girardeau and Perryville, Mo., Occupational Medicine Services, the urology service line and will serve as project coordinator for the Lean initiative. He will also maintain his duties as administrator for Physicians Alliance Surgery Center. He has worked at Saint Francis since 2007.

MAKARI JOINS POPLAR BLUFF HOSPITAL

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Dr. Fadi Makari joined Regional Physician Specialists as a general surgeon. His office is in the new Physicians Office Plaza at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.

DURYEE NAMED CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Edward Duryee was named chief information officer at Saint Francis Medical Center. In this position, Duryee will be responsible for directing Saint Francis' information systems strategy and operations. He replaces Diane Smith, who is retiring after 40 years of service at Saint Francis. Duryee comes to the hospital from Encore Health Resources, where he was a managing consultant for strategy and planning. Previously, he held positions as CIO at The Methodist Hospitals in Indiana, as well as vice president of information technology and CIO at EMH Regional Healthcare System in Ohio.

GRINDSTAFF JOINS MID-AMERICA REHAB

Dana Grindstaff joined the staff of Mid-America Rehab of Cape Girardeau in July. Grindstaff, a 2011 graduate of St. Louis Community College at Meramec, has an associate's degree as a physical therapist assistant and will focus on outpatient care. She is a former player for Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team and enjoys working with younger athletes.

RIBBON CUTTING HELD FOR NEW DENTAL CLINIC

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- The Farmington Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting at Great Mines Health Center's new dental clinic at 508 W. Pine St. in Farmington, the Park Hills Daily Journal reported. As a federally qualified health care facility, the clinic accepts most uninsured and insured patients.

GRIFFIN JOINS SIKESTON REHAB

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Cortney Griffin is a new physical therapist at Sikeston Rehab LLC. Griffin, a Southeast Missouri native, received her doctorate in physical therapy from Arkansas State University. Sikeston Rehab is a full-service rehabilitation unit with locations in Sikeston and Chaffee, Mo.

RITTER PERFORMING NEW ANKLE SURGERY TECHNIQUE

Dr. R. August Ritter III, orthopedic surgeon at Advanced Orthopedic Specialists in Cape Girardeau, is the only surgeon in the region performing highly advanced total ankle arthroplasty procedures using a new surgical technique with proven technology, according to a news release. Ritter attended an advanced Zimmer Expert Interactions training session in Henderson, Nev., where he learned the Trabecular Metal Total Ankle technique as an alternative ankle fusion procedure for patients suffering from arthritis.

PARKLAND HEALTH PHARMACY NAMED BEST OF THE YEAR

DESLOGE, Mo. -- Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy of Desloge was named 2013 Pharmacy of the Year by the McKesson Corporation, the Park Hills Daily Journal reported. The pharmacy, opened eight years ago by owner Lisa Umfleet, was honored during a ceremony at the McKesson ideaShare conference this summer. McKesson's "Pharmacy of the Year" award recognizes independent pharmacies for exceptional contributions they make to their communities and the leadership they demonstrate in the areas of quality patient care, innovative marketing and technology adoption. Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy has been a McKesson customer since 2009.

VEIN & ESTHETIC CENTRE RELOCATES

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Dr. Tom Critchlow and the Vein & Esthetic Centre relocated to 225 Physicians Park Drive, Suite 102 in Poplar Bluff.