Freeman Named Chief Administrative Officer at Alacare

Susan Freeman, RN has been named the new Chief Administrative Officer at Alacare Home Health & Hospice. In 14 years with Alacare, she has served in various positions, including Corporate/Branch Liaison, Regional Manager and, most recently, Director of Information Technology.

“Susan’s years of experience and her knowledge of both the clinical and non-clinical aspects of the agency make her an ideal candidate for this position,” says Susan Brouillette, MPH, MBA, Alacare’s Chief Executive Officer.

Integrated Medical Systems International (IMS) announces the addition of Nyla F. “Skee” Japp, R.N., Ph.D., ACSP, CSPDM as the National Director of its Central Sterile Process Management program. Dr. Japp will be the lead expert on central sterile clinical policies and procedures while ensuring that its on-site process improvement teams and customer staffs are properly trained and compliant with associated regulations and standards of the industry.

She comes to IMS from Banner Health System in Arizona, where she most recently served as the CSPD Manager /Educator. Dr. Japp began her career as a medic in the United States Women’s Army Corps and then received her Bachelor of Science degree in Management and completed both her Masters of Science and Doctorate degrees in Healthcare Administration.

Dr. Japp is nationally recognized in the central service industry, as well as a leading advocate for infection control and sterile processing.

DCH Foundation Names Special Events Manager

Casey Johnson has been named special events manager for the DCH Foundation, Inc. In her new position, Johnson will be responsible for fundraising events for the DCH Foundation. Johnson came to the DCH Foundation from AFFLINK, where she was responsible for executing major company events and trade shows.

“We are very pleased to have someone with Casey’s skills and experience handling our events,” said Ford Williams, president of the DCH Foundation.

Trinity Names Executives

Trinity MedicalCenter has filled two executive positions.

Sean Dardeau has been named Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his appointment at Trinity, he served as Chief Executive Officer at SouthamptonMemorialHospital in Franklin, VA, and as CEO of Lakeview Community Hospital in Eufaula, AL. Dardeau also served as Assistant Chief Executive Officer at SouthBaldwinRegionalMedicalCenter in Foley, AL.

Dardeau received his bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from KingCollege in Bristol, TN, and an MBA from AverettCollege in Danville, VA.

Trinity has promoted Melissa Willis to Director of Finance for Affinity Physician Services. Prior to her promotion, she worked for Trinity as a Senior Financial Analyst and also served in various financial positions for six years with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.

A native of Alabama, Willis received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from AuburnUniversity.

Samford to Offer Nursing Doctorate

Samford University’s Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing will begin offering the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in 2008 to meet a need for advanced practice nurses. Samford, along with the University of South Alabama, is one of only two nursing schools in the state to offer the new degree.

“The Doctor of Nursing Practice program will fulfill a need within the profession for advanced practice nurses who can provide leadership as advanced nurse practitioners, nurse administrators and educators,” said Dr. Nena Sanders, Samford nursing dean.

Qualified students will be able to complete the new degree within one calendar year of full-time study. The program will begin in June and graduate its first class in 2009.

The Samford nursing school was designated a Center of Excellence in Nursing by the National League for Nursing in 2005.

Children’s Hospital Names New Gastroenterology Physician

Kirk Thame, MD, has joined the staff of the UAB Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Children’s Hospital. He comes to Children’s from the UniversityHospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, where he practiced as a pediatric gastroenterologist for seven years. During his career there, he also served as an associate lecturer in the Child Health section of the University of the West Indies.

Thame is originally from Kingston, Jamaica and earned his diploma in Child Health in 1995 from the University of the West Indies. He completed his residency at the University of Miami’s JacksonMemorialHospital and did a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at the Children’s Hospital at WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis.

Ball Awarded for Scholarly Distinction

UAB psychologist Karlene Ball, PhD, has won the 2008 Carolyn P. and Charles W. Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction. UAB presents the award annually to a faculty member in the schools of Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, or Social and Behavioral Sciences for their professional achievements and contributions to the university and local community.

Ball is an internationally renowned experimental psychologist who studies cognitive impairment and aging. She directs the UABCenter for Research in Applied Gerontology and she is associate director of the UABCenter for Aging in the School of Medicine. For more than 20 years, she has studied the visual and cognitive correlates of mobility problems of older adults.

Her research has resulted in the development of the Useful Field of View (UFOV)® test, which identifies older drivers at risk for having traffic accidents. She also was a co-author of a multi-site study on memory in older adults that was published in 2006 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.