Tennessee Medical Association installs new president

Friday, April 17, 2015, Vol. 39, No. 16

Hale

John W. Hale, Jr., MD, a family physician in Union City, has been installed as 2015-2016 president of the Tennessee Medical Association, the state’s largest professional organization for physicians. Hale’s term officially began this week during TMA’s annual convention in Nashville.

As president, Hale will serve on the TMA Board of Trustees, which is responsible for the direction and implementation of association activities between sessions of the House of Delegates, the association’s governing body. He will also serve as the public spokesman and official representative for TMA’s more than 8,000 members.

Hale is the 161st president of the TMA. He succeeds Douglas J. Springer, MD, FACP FACG, a gastroenterologist in Kingsport.

Hale is originally from Halls in West Tennessee. He graduated from the Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University and has practiced family medicine in Union City for 24 years.

He is board certified in family medicine and has been an active TMA member, serving on the TMA House of Delegates for 23 consecutive years. He has also been a TMA Judicial Councilor and served on the Board of Trustees and as speaker and vice speaker of the House, a past Young Physicians Chair, and as a delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates.

Capella announces leadership promotions

Capella Healthcare has announced the promotion of one senior leader to executive management and three others to senior management.

Promoted to executive vice president is Mark Medley, president – hospital operations. Promoted to senior vice president positions are Richard Charbonneau, SVP, development; Robert Wampler, SVP, hospital operations; Beth Wright, SVP, corporate communications and strategic marketing.

Medley, who joined Capella in 2008, works with Capella’s affiliated hospitals in setting strategy and achieving goals in the company’s five key pillars. He is also currently serving as chair of the Tennessee Hospital Association, and has been recognized for his work on behalf of Tennessee’s rural hospitals with THA’s Small or Rural Hospital Leadership Award. Medley also serves on the Board of the Hospital Hospitality House.

A charter employee of the company, Charbonneau joined Capella in 2005. In addition to his responsibilities in development, Charbonneau also has responsibility for managed care contracting.

Joining Capella in 2007, Wampler has served as Division COO and CFO in working with Capella’s hospitals. Active in THA, Wampler serves on the Board of the THA Solutions Group.

Wright joined Capella in 2010. In addition to her corporate communication responsibilities, she works with Capella’s hospitals to expand and enhance services in partnership with their medical staffs and communities.

VU School of Medicine teaching award to Riebau

Riebau

Derek Riebau, M.D., assistant professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, received the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s 2015 Shovel Award for outstanding faculty teaching.

Riebau is associate director of the Neurology Residency Program and the School of Medicine’s Medical Neuroscience Course. His research and clinical interests include the prevention and treatment of stroke.

A 1997 graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, Riebau earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin Medical School at Madison in 2001. He completed his internship with the Department of Medicine at Evanston Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and completed his residency with Vanderbilt’s Department of Neurology in 2005, including serving as the Chief Resident of Neurology from 2004-2005. Subsequently, he completed a Neurovascular fellowship in 2007.

Riebau has received two teaching awards from Vanderbilt’s neurology residents as well as the School of Medicine’s CANDLE award given to individuals who have devoted themselves to teaching and mentoring.

Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin adds associate

Blood

The law firm of Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC (GSRM) hired attorney Sarah L. Blood.

Blood will practice in the firm’s litigation section as an associate. She previously was with the law firm of Farrar & Bates LLP.

Blood earned her law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2013 and her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California in 2009.

Sheridan Public Relations hires Schmidt, Reynolds

Schmidt

Chad Schmidt and Virginia Reynolds have joined Franklin-based Sheridan Public Relations.

Schmidt is now a principal at SPR and has 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, grassroots campaigns, advertising and related fields. He was previously Counsel on Call’s director of marketing and communications, a role he held for eight years and during which the company’s revenue quintupled.

Prior to Counsel on Call, he was part of McNeely Pigott & Fox’s senior staff, managing teams in the wireless communications, automotive, government and retail industries, among others. He is a Nashville native and graduated from Washington University.

Reynolds

Reynolds, also a Nashville native, has more than 15 years of experience and is a senior account supervisor at SPR. She also worked at Counsel on Call, as a marketing manager, where she focused on a range of activities related to events, internal and external communication and social media.

Previously, Reynolds served as the public relations manager at Catholic Charities – Archdiocese of Boston, and in alumni and development at Davidson Academy in Nashville. She earned her master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Emerson College in Boston and a bachelor’s degree from University of Evansville in Indiana.

“The SPR team is a dynamic group of professionals that delivers a unique and outstanding work product, and I hope my experience will complement that and contribute to its continued success,” Reynolds said.

SPR recently moved offices in downtown Franklin (223 4th Avenue N.) and now has seven team members.

“Chad and Virginia bring a different set of skills to our team, not only from a business and management perspective, but from designing and leading large initiatives for companies and organizations facing an array of challenges,” said Jay Sheridan, founder of SPR. “As we continue to grow as a firm, their strengths and experiences will be true assets to both our internal team and our clients.”

Tharp brings health care expertise to Butler Snow

Tharp

Andrew D. Tharp has joined Butler Snow and will practice with the pharmaceutical, medical device and health care litigation team. Tharp previously served as an area defense counsel for the United States Air Force, and as an assistant staff judge advocate.

Tharp earned his undergraduate education at Bowling Green State University before earning his J.D. at the University of Toledo.

Tharp is a member of the Tennessee Bar, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.

Public Education Foundation names board

The Nashville Public Education Foundation has selected its board of directors for 2015. In includes:

  • Vice Chairman - Ralph Davis, partner at Cressey & Company
  • Secretary - Jennifer Frist, community volunteer and philanthropic leader
  • Treasurer - Jimmy Spradley, CEO of Standard Functional Foods Group
  • Chairman Ex Officio – Tom Sherrard, founding partner of Sherrard & Roe, PLC

Burns replaces past chairman Tom Sherrard, a founding member of Sherrard & Roe, PLC.

Other members of this year’s board of directors are: Ron Corbin, Anne Davis, Chuck Denny, Margaret Dolan, Annette Eskind, John Ferguson, Robert Fisher, Darrell Freeman, Howard Gentry, Orrin Ingram, Lewis Lavine, Robert McNeilly III, Byron Trauger, David Williams and Jerry Williams.

The new officers come during a time of growth for the Nashville Public Education Foundation. Recently, the Foundation launched Project RESET, a citywide education conversation to promote cooperation and innovation in supporting and improving Nashville’s schools. The Foundation is hosting RESET Saturday, an unprecedented idea festival to bring Nashvillians together behind a citywide vision for education, on Saturday, May 30, at Rocketown.

Barge Waggoner adds two project engineers

Dimich

Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon, Inc., has hired Alissa Diminich, PE, and Patrick Stephens, PE, for the firm’s Water Services department as project engineers.

Prior to Barge Waggoner, Diminich was project manager at GHD, Inc., in Cazenovia, N.Y. (formerly Stearns & Wheler, LLC). She graduated from Cornell University with a degree in civil engineering and a masters of engineering in environmental processes.

Stephens

Diminich has held multiple positions as a member of the Society of Women Engineers, Greater Syracuse Area Section, including president and treasurer.

Stephens previously served as project engineer at CDM Smith, Inc., in San Antonio, Texas. His experience includes design for water/wastewater plants and booster pump stations, master planning, as well as flood damage assessment. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas.

He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Mahone returns to BOHAN Advertising

Mahone

Jeanine Mahone has rejoined BOHAN Advertising. Mahone, who worked for the agency for eight years in the early 2000s and left for work in Colorado, is back on staff as an engagement supervisor. She supervises the engagement work for some of the agency’s biggest retail clients.

She most recently was media broadcast supervisor at the Buntin Group.