Heart Association names Churchwell VP of board

Friday, June 10, 2011, Vol. 35, No. 23

Keith Churchwell, M.D., has been named vice president of the American Heart Association’s Greater Southeast Affiliate board of directors for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

The Greater Southeast Affiliate services Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Puerto Rico.

Churchwell is executive director/chief medical officer of the Vanderbilt Heart & Vascular Institute. He also served as the president of the board of directors for the American Heart Association, Greater Nashville, for 2010-11. He has been affiliated with the organization for three years.

Crosson named CFO of Cumberland Heights

Jay S. Crosson has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer of Cumberland Heights, one of the Southeast’s oldest and largest alcohol and drug treatment facilities. He previously was director of patient accounting at the Nashville-based center.

Crosson joined Cumberland Heights in 1993 as an admissions assistant and has served as business office manager and admissions & accounts receivable manager, before assuming responsibility for patient accounting in 1998. In that role, among other accomplishments, he managed contract negotiations with over 50 insurance payers and designed and implemented an accounts receivables (AR) system that reduced AR days by 50 percent.

A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Crosson holds an MBA from the Massey School of Business at Belmont University.

Centennial names Bartels Parthenon adminstrator

Allen Bartels has been named administrator and chief operating officer at Parthenon Pavilion.

Bartels earned a Masters in Health Care Administration at Bellevue University in Bellevue, Neb., a Bachelor of Nursing from Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Neb., and is a licensed nurse.

In addition to his thorough education, Allen has served on numerous boards and committees including Behavioral Health Resources, the State of Nebraska Advisory Committee on Mental Health Services, Nebraska Psychiatric Hospital Group, District IV Nebraska Organization of Nurse Leaders as well as contributing to multiple publications.

Bartels has more than 20 years of experience progressing in organizational leadership to the executive level. Prior to joining Parthenon Pavilion at Centennial Medical Center, Bartels served as interim director of psychiatric services at Sparrow Health System in East Lansing, Mich. He also held the position of vice president of Clinical Services at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital in Hastings, Neb.

CapStar Bank adds 4 to staff

CapStar Bank has announced the addition of several new employees.

William Wiggs Thompson joins CapStar as a commercial real estate underwriter. He comes to CapStar from Regions Bank, where he managed a $150 million real estate portfolio. A graduate of Auburn University, Thompson will serve as president of the Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee in 2012.

Ralph Bailey is CapStar’s private banking underwriter. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Bailey has more than 18 years of banking experience across middle Tennessee.

Tonia Clapper joins CapStar as correspondent banking and retail sales assistant supporting retail banking and correspondent banking clients. Clapper was most recently with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Jackson, Miss., where she was as a Registered Sales and Service Assistant.

Sarah Lovett will be a customer service representative in the Green Hills branch. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Lovett was a manager at Border’s Bookstore.

Blanton new president of TMA Alliance

Barbara Blanton was recently installed as president of the Tennessee Medical Association Alliance (TMAA) during the organization’s 2011 annual meeting in Nashville. As president, she will support the TMAA’s mission of improving the health of Tennesseans and supporting medical families.

She is also president of the Bedford County Medical Association Alliance and serves as Tennessee Councilor of the Southern Medical Association Alliance.

Blanton is a former Mississippi state senator, serving in that state’s legislature from 1988-1992. Her active interest in government and legislation was developed while serving as president of the Mississippi State Medical Association Alliance from 1984-1985.

A 1976 graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, MS, Blanton was Beta Beta Beta and received the school’s Biology Research Award for her paper on Hodgkin’s Disease.

Transit Alliance names Rose as board member

Ed Cole, Executive Director of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, has announced Rhedona Rose as a new board member.

Rhedona Rose is the Executive Vice President of the Tennessee Farm Bureau and serves as the Director of Public Affairs, overseeing policy development, legislative and congressional activities. She has been with Tennessee Farm Bureau for 24 years.

Ms. Rose received her bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science from Tennessee Tech and her master’s degree in Agricultural Development from Texas A&M University.

VUMC’s Weaver is winner of Preuss Award

Kyle Weaver, M.D., assistant professor of Neurological Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received the Preuss Award from the Joint Section on Tumors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS).

The Preuss Award is given to a young scientist investigating brain tumors who submitted the best basic science research paper. First awarded in 1987, the prize is sponsored by the Preuss Foundation for Brain Tumor Research, founded by entrepreneur Peter Preuss.

Weaver’s research paper is entitled “­­­­­­Resection of Malignant Glioma Results in Significant Decrease in Circulating Tumor-Specific Hypermethylated DNA. A Potential Biomarker?” and investigates the use of DNA shed by the tumor into the patient’s bloodstream as the basis for tests to diagnose and follow the response of malignant brain tumors to treatment.

After receiving his medical degree from the University of North Carolina, Weaver completed his internship in general surgery and residency in neurosurgery at UNC, and held a Neuro-Oncology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University before coming to Vanderbilt.

Weaver also won the section’s Young Investigator Award in 2004.

Fifth Third Bank welcomes Adkins

Alison Adkins joins Fifth Third Bank, Tennessee as a Financial Service Representative at the banking center located at 2216 Abbott Martin Road in Green Hills.

Alison attended Broward College and was previously employed at Bank of America. She has worked in retail banking for seven and a-half years. Alison brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and accomplishments that will be instrumental in her continued success as a new financial service representative for Fifth Third Bank.