C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., deputy vice chancellor for Health Affairs at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and CEO of the Vanderbilt Health System, was named to the Becker’s Hospital Review list of the “130 Hospital and Healthcare System CEOs to Know.”

The list, presented alphabetically, includes notable hospital and health systems leaders from across the country.

Becker’s Hospital Review is a bimonthly publication offering business and legal news and analysis relating to hospitals and health systems.

The publication’s content is geared toward high-level hospital leaders, focusing on hospital and health system news, best practices and legal guidance specifically for these decision makers.

Gammons to chair Key Alliance board

The Key Alliance Board of Directors elected local attorney Barry J. Gammons to chair the nonprofit organization whose goal is to help end homelessness in Nashville.

Gammons is the owner of The Law Office of Barry J. Gammons, a law practice concentrating on creditor’s rights. He earned his B.B.A. from Belmont University and his J.D. from Nashville School of Law. Gammons is a member of the Tennessee and Nashville bar associations.

He has been a member of The Key Alliance board of directors since April 2010 and replaces Metro Councilman Erik Cole as the chair of the board.

The Key Alliance is the 501(c)3 nonprofit fundraising arm of the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission. Its mission is to raise community awareness and financial resources to assist with the implementation of Nashville’s plan to end chronic homelessness and reduce overall homelessness.

Abraham joins Barge Waggoner

Ronald Abraham, PE, BCEE, has joined Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, Inc. (BWSC) as Water/Wastewater Practice leader in the Nashville office.

In this role, Abraham will be working directly with project teams to help provide solutions to BWSC clients’ water and wastewater needs.

Prior to joining BWSC, Abraham was employed with Camp, Dresser & McKee (CDM) and Boyle Engineering (now part of AECOM). He has more than 25 years of experience in project management, facility design, client management, plant operations, and regulatory compliance in endeavors that span the globe.

A native of Brainerd, Minn., Abraham holds a master’s in sanitary engineering and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from South Dakota State University (1987, 1984). He is a licensed professional engineer in Tennessee, California, South Dakota and Iowa, and is a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE). He also holds a water treatment plant operator license from California, as well as Value Engineering Certification.

Abraham is active in the American Water Works Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Water Environment Federation, the American Membrane Technology Association, the Southeast Desalting Association and the American Society of Military Engineers.

Drescher & Sharp hires new attorney

The law firm Drescher & Sharp, P.C. has hired Peter Robison as an associate.

Mr. Robison received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 2008 after receiving his B.A. from Brigham Young University, where he studied political science, Spanish and Latin American literature. Mr. Robison joined Drescher & Sharp immediately after completing a two-year judicial clerkship with Circuit Court Judge Thomas W. Brothers.

Mr. Robison is fluent in Spanish, having lived in Venezuela for two years, and has represented several Spanish-speaking clients, both with Drescher & Sharp and with the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic while he was at Vanderbilt Law School. He practices in the areas of employment law, probate and general civil litigation.

Carpenter re-elected chairman of FAH board

William F. Carpenter III, chairman & CEO of Brentwood-based LifePoint Hospitals Inc., has been re-elected as the chair of the Federation of American Hospitals.

Mr. Carpenter’s new term begins immediately and will last for one year.

Mr. Carpenter has served as CEO of LifePoint Hospitals Inc. since June 2006 and was the company’s executive vice president prior to his appointment as CEO. Mr. Carpenter has served the company in several other capacities, including general counsel and secretary, corporate governance officer, and senior vice president. He also was general counsel of the America Group of HCA and a member of the law firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP.

The Federation of American Hospitals is the national representative of investor-owned or managed hospitals and health systems.

The Pinnacle appoints Caughey as manager

The Pinnacle at Symphony Place, the 29-story, Gold LEED certified office building, has appointed Jennifer Caughey senior property manager.

Caughey brings more than eight years of Class A commercial property management experience to her position. She joins The Pinnacle as a member of Cornerstone Commercial Real Estate Services, the property management and leasing firm representing the new office tower.

Caughey most recently served as property manager and real estate broker for the 20-story Bank of America Plaza in downtown Nashville, which is managed by Parkway Realty Services. Prior to that, she was property manager and Memphis regional manager for Parkway, overseeing 1.2 million square feet of Class A commercial office space in the Memphis central business district and east market.

Originally from Memphis, Caughey earned her bachelor’s degree from University of North Texas.

Gastroenterology group elects Peek as its chair

Richard Peek Jr., M.D., the Mina Cobb Wallace professor of Gastroenterology and Cancer Biology and director of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been elected chair of the American Gastroenterological Association Council.

The AGA Institute Council is composed of 24 elected representatives from 12 topic interest groups that address the diverse needs of AGA members.

The AGA Institute Council plays a major role in implementing many of the goals of AGA, with an overall objective of enhancing the quality of clinical care, education, advocacy and research that impact the ability of gastroenterologists to improve health and prevent disease.

Schaffner honored for teaching, advocacy

The Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) has presented Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s William Schaffner, M.D., professor and chair of Preventive Medicine, with the APTR Duncan Clark Award.

Named after Duncan W. Clark, M.D., a founding member of the association, the award is presented to a senior-level person with a distinguished record of achievement in the areas of teaching, research and advocacy in the field of prevention and public health. It is the organization’s highest recognition.

The APTR is the professional organization for the academic public health community dedicated to prevention research and interprofessional education. APTR advances population-based and public health education, research and service by linking and supporting members from across the health professions.

Carrell’s Ford to lead inpatient nursing

Connie Ford, R.N., B.S.N., MHA, has been named administrative director of Inpatient Nursing for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Ford will lead nursing in the inpatient areas of Children’s Hospital, and will oversee clinical quality, service standards, staffing, developing and meeting financial targets and staff and patient satisfaction.

Previously, Ford served as director of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Integrated Service Line and manager of the sixth floor inpatient units, including the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Hematology/Oncology, Cardiac and Pediatric Medicine.

She also has served in other various capacities over the years since she joined Children’s Hospital in 1979. Among those other roles, she has been manager of Patient Care Services as well as a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse/case manager.

Ford earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Excelsior College in New York. She has a master’s in health administration from the University of Phoenix.

VUMC’s Hager to lead nursing accountability

Erin Hager has been named director of shared governance for Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nursing.

Shared governance is the term used to describe the Medical Center’s structure of shared accountability and collaborative decision-making among its 4,000-plus nursing workforce. Hager will lead the network of more than 80 unit boards representing nurses in the inpatient, outpatient, procedural and perioperative areas.

Hager joined Vanderbilt as a staff nurse in the Pediatric Critical Care Unit at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in 2006.

She earned her degree in science in nursing from the University of Arizona in 2005, and her master’s of management in healthcare from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management in 2010.

Vanderbilt’s Hill earns Utz Leadership Award

George C. Hill, Ph.D., Levi Watkins Jr. Professor and associate dean for Diversity in Medical Education and professor of microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been awarded the John P. Utz Leadership Award from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

The award is presented to individuals who, on behalf of the NFID, have provided exemplary service, leadership and vision in efforts to educate the public and health care professionals about the causes, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases.

Hill, a long-time member of the NFID, served as its president from 2008 to 2010. He helped draw attention to the issue of disparities in vaccination rates among minority communities in comparison to the general population.

He also advocated for strong support for the message of the benefits of vaccination as a public health tool to address infectious diseases.

William Schaffner, M.D., chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine, succeeded Hill as president of the NFID last year.

Hill was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2002.

He was selected a “Giant in Science” for his efforts to motivate minority students into biomedical research.