Lifepoint Health has appointed Elmer Polite to the role of president, Eastern Division. He will provide operational oversight for Lifepoint’s acute care hospitals in Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. He previously served as chief financial officer of the Eastern Division.

As part of his new role, Polite has assumed operational oversight of the 14 facilities that make up Duke LifePoint Healthcare, a joint venture partnership between Lifepoint Health and Duke University Health System.

Polite previously served as chief financial executive of the Midlands market for Prisma Health in Columbia, South Carolina, as the system chief financial officer and chief staffing officer of Hospital Corporation of America’s Macon market and as the chief financial officer of the Georgia Market for Community Health Systems.

Polite earned degrees in accounting and agribusiness and economics from South Carolina State University and holds a master’s degree in finance from DeVry University. He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and American College of Healthcare Executives.

Siloam Health selects president, CEO

Siloam Health, a faith-based, nonprofit health care organization serving Nashville’s uninsured, underserved and culturally marginalized patients, has named Katie Richards as its next president and CEO.

Richards assumes her new role July 5.

Richardson has 15 years of experience in faith-based charitable health care and nonprofit development in the Nashville community, having served as chief development officer and most recently as the interim chief executive officer for Siloam Health. Under her leadership, Siloam’s contributed revenue doubled – going from $1.6M to $3.2M annually – which has led to 2,000 more patients being served each year through whole-person medical care, expanded community health programs, and the opening of Siloam’s second location in Antioch.

Before her tenure at Siloam Health, Richards worked in various roles with the YMCA of Middle Tennessee.

Nashville Bar Foundation inducts new fellows

The Nashville Bar Foundation fellows program honors colleagues within the Nashville Bar who have been in practice for at least 10 years, made outstanding contributions to the legal profession and to the public good and demonstrated a strong commitment to the goals of the Foundation.

This year’s honorees are:

• Trudy L. Bloodworth, Law Office of Trudy Bloodworth

• Hunter C. Branstetter, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison

• Hunter Brush, Butler Snow

• Grover C. Collins, Collins Legal

• Beau C. Creson, K&L Gates

• Lauren Curry, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison

• Mark Donnell, Jr., Sims|Funk

• Julie-Karel Elkin, Barton

• Alice M. Essary, Gideon Essary Tardio & Carter

• Christopher B. Fowler, Kay Griffin

• April Harris Jackson, Graceful Aging Legal Services

• Lauren Kilgore, Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton

• Kevin C. Klein, Klein Solomon Mills

• John R. Manson, Lewis Thomason

• Judge Eli Richardson, United States District Court

• Jeffery S. Roberts, Jeffery S. Roberts & Associates

• Princess Rogers, Office of the District Attorney General

• Lindsey Sexton, Second Circuit Court

• Thomas W. Shumate, IV, Meridian Law

• Mary Dohner Smith, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete

• George D. Spanos, Rogers Shea & Spanos

• Abby Sparks, Nashville Bar Association

• James C. Sperring, Cumberland Litigation

• Mariam Stockton, Neal & Harwell

• Jennifer Wade, Juvenile Court

• Michael J. Wall, Herzfeld, Suetholz, Gastel, Leniski and Wall

• Charity Williams, Tennessee Housing Development Agency

• Jeffrey A. Zager, Neal & Harwell

The NBF also presented the David Rutherford Award posthumously to the Hon. Philip E. Smith. This award is given to a fellow who exemplifies the memory and ideals of David Rutherford, which include professionalism, charitable contributions in the legal field and in the community as a whole, and the spirit of collegiality among bench and bar.

United Community Bank welcomes Rafidi

United Community Bank has hired industry veteran Samer Rafidi as commercial relationship manager to its Middle Tennessee team.

Rafidi will be responsible for cultivating relationships with business owners across Middle Tennessee and providing clients with the best funding and comprehensive services to grow and operate their businesses successfully.

Rafidi comes to United with more than 20 years of banking experience in Middle Tennessee. He previously served as vice president, commercial relationship manager for Regions Bank. He also worked with Wells Fargo.