APPOINTMENTS

• Trios Health has announced that Amy Sweetwood has been appointed the designated institutional officer (DIO) for the Graduate Medical Education Residency Program. As DIO, she is tasked with the oversight and administration of Trios’ family and internal medicine residency programs and ensuring compliance with accreditation council for graduate medical education standards and requirements. She will work with the program directors of the family medicine and internal medicine residency programs, their respective program coordinators, core faculty, the graduate medical education committee, and residents of the respective programs in her role. She most recently was the program operations lead at Spokane Teaching Health Center and continues to consult with the organization. She was also previously the graduate medical education director from 2013-18 at Kadlec Regional Medical Center and was part of the team that built and implemented the residency program when it began in 2015.
• Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Phillip Lemley of Richland to the Sentencing Guidelines Commission Board, and Castulo (Cus) Arteaga of Grandview to the Yakima Valley Community College Board of Trustees.

AWARDS & HONORS

• During its 95th annual conference, the League of Oregon Cities presented its 2020 good governance award to the city of Hermiston for its Capital Improvement Plan website. The award recognizes progressive and innovative city operations and services. Hermiston Projects Dot Com is an interactive website that keeps residents up to date and informed about the city of Hermiston’s long-term street, water and sewer upgrades and upkeep. Projects included in the city’s five-year plan can be sorted on the site by department, status or location to better understand how utility fees are being spent to maintain utilities and infrastructure. Each project page is updated with milestones and photos as work is underway, and final costs and descriptions are added when the job is done. By turning the 200-page document into a user-friendly website, residents can learn about the unseen work of utility upgrades, expected timelines of major projects, and upcoming work that may close roads or affect utilities.
• LifeCenter Northwest presented an Organ Donation Referral Achievement Award and a Collaboration Achievement Award to Kadlec Regional Medical Center on Oct. 19 in recognition of superior donation performance in 2019. LifeCenter recognizes Kadlec’s consistency in making timely referral calls and for reaching or exceeding a timely organ referral rate of 90%. With a 2019 timely organ referral rate of 92%, Kadlec is one of 15 hospitals in LifeCenter Northwest’s donation service area — comprising four states and 200-plus hospitals — to receive the referral achievement award. LifeCenter also recognized Kadlec’s ability to plan a collaborative family conversation with the LifeCenter staff to ensure the best possible family experience, and the collaborative award is reserved for those reaching or exceeding a collaborative request rate of 90%. With a 2019 collaborative request rate of 92%, Kadlec is one of 34 hospitals in the donation service area to receive the award.
• Joe Walker, newly promoted director of airports for the Port of Benton, has earned the certified member credential from the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). The designation is the second highest level of achievement available from the AAAE. The designation attests to Walker’s proficiency and knowledge of airport operations and management.

NEW HIRES

• Andre Hargunani, who served as principal of Leona Libby Middle School in West Richland since it opened, has been named the first principal of Richland Virtual School. He’ll provide support to this new program that has about 500 students and 30 staff. Hargunani is succeeded at Libby by Maren Benedict, who has most recently served as an assistant principal at Hanford High School. She brings 13 years of experience to the role, including her background as a science teacher and teaching science education at the post-secondary level.
• Prosser Memorial Health has hired Becky Morris, a certified nurse midwife-women’s health nurse practitioner, to the team of providers at the Grandview Clinic, 1003 Wallace Way. Morris received her bachelor of science in nursing at the University of Utah School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Salt Lake City and her master’s at Georgetown University School of Nursing Health and Sciences in Washington, D.C. She is certified in ultrasound. Her professional associations include the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health and the American College of Nurse Midwives.
• Tidewater Transportation and Terminals, the largest barge transportation and terminal network on the Columbia-Snake River system, recently named Aaron Degodny as its new vice president and chief commercial officer. Degodny will focus on establishing strategic partnerships in new markets, expanding and strengthening client relationships, and extending the regional and global footprint of Tidewater.
• STCU hired two new leaders. Chris Severin is vice president of retail. He most recently worked as a senior vice president at Columbia Bank, where he oversaw the Inland Northwest market. He brings nearly 20 years of banking leadership experience to the credit union, where he will steer branch operations at its 25 locations. He is a graduate of Leadership Spokane and the Pacific Coast Banking School.
  Joe Yetter has been named the new position of senior vice president of commercial and business services. He will oversee STCU’s growing business service and lending offerings. With more than 30 years of commercial banking and lending experience, Yetter worked at Umpqua Bank in various lending leadership roles, and joins STCU from Banner Bank, where he was senior credit administrator. A Maryland native, he holds a bachelor’s from the University of Maryland College Park and passed the Maryland CPA exam early in his career.

• Cornerstone Wealth Strategies Inc., based in Kennewick, has hired Cameron Burch as a wealth advisor who also will assist with trading and research. The Tri-City native has been working in the finance industry since 2008, earning his bachelor of science in economics from the University of Utah in 2008 and working in the banking field until he became a licensed financial advisor in 2012.
• Community First Bank &HFG Trust, based in Kennewick, has announced two new hires.
  Cameron Stephens joined as the new commercial lending team leader, overseeing the commercial lending department’s day-to-day operations. He brings nearly 20 years of banking experience, beginning his career in retail banking and later transitioning into commercial lending in 2014. Originally from St. George, Utah, Stephens is an alumnus of Dixie State University, and later earned his master’s in business administration from Southern Utah University.
  Nicholas Haberling has been hired as a partnership advisor at Community First Bank &HFG Trust. In this role, he oversees the expansion of the wealth management division through professional recruitment of certified financial advisors and firms outside the Tri-City area. His prior experience includes working with one of the nation’s largest broker-dealers. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gonzaga University in 2017 before going on to obtain his Series 7 and 63 licenses. He also serves as a 1st lieutenant in the Army Reserves.
• Lourdes Health has named Kena Chase as its new chief nursing officer. With more than 23 years of experience in health care, Chase has been serving as Lourdes interim CNO since August 2020, and her previous role was the director of Lourdes ICU, Medical Surgical & Observation Units. Prior to her role at Lourdes, she spent nine years at WellStar Spalding Regional Hospital in Griffin, Georgia, where she served as director of Medical Surgical, Stroke & Pediatrics. Chase holds a master’s degree in nursing leadership and management from Western Governors University in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a bachelor’s in nursing from South University in Savannah, Georgia.

GRANTS

• The Arts Center Task Force recently awarded grants to support artists, performers, and arts organizations during the pandemic. Recipients are: Afrose Fatima Ahmed, a poet; Encanto Arts, a program that assists rural youth; Heather Hull Hart, a musician; and Courtney Jette, a photographer.
• The Washington State Department of Commerce awarded $33.8 million to 22 projects that collectively support 396 new beds and outpatient services for people with behavioral health and other challenges. Mid-Columbia recipients include:

-Americare LLC, which provides specialized dementia care, received $2 million to support 40 beds in Pasco.

-SHC Medical Center, Toppenish/Astria Hospital received $2 million to support long-term civic confinement facilities in Toppenish.

-Lutheran Community Services Northwest received $510,000 to support outpatient services in Kennewick.

-Virginia Mason Memorial Hospital received $1.3 million to support outpatient services in Yakima.

• The Mattawa Area Food Bank received a $10,000 Nation of Neighbors grant from Royal Neighbors of America, one of the first and largest women-led insurers in the U.S.

DONATIONS

• Baker Boyer, based in Walla Walla, has awarded several grants to support organizations and people affected by homelessness as a result of the pandemic, including shelter, clothing, food, health, and hygiene. It also has funded programs to address mental health and domestic violence.

Tri-City area recipients are:

-Union Gospel Mission, $5,000 to provide resources to meet increased demand for basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.

-Martha’s Cupboard, $4,000 to deliver basic household goods to people who may otherwise live without. Serves nearly 8,000 individuals in Tri-Cities annually through outreach/coordination dozens of local agencies.

-SARC (Support, Advocacy & Resource Center) of Tri-Cities, $2,500 to provide advocacy, counseling, and support to survivors of domestic violence and other crime.

-Kadlec Foundation, $1,000 for incremental Covid-related needs.

-Kennewick Kiwanis, $1,000 for elementary school supplies, personal protection equipment and cleaning.

-Benton-Franklin Legal Aid Society, $1,000 for increased need for low-income legal services due to Covid.

-Kennewick Police Foundation, $500 to support the Community Care Program which allows officers who see an immediate community need to be able to take action and help people or resolve an issue.

-Comprehensive Health, $4,282 raised by the “Miles for Charity” challenge to support mental health and substance use disorder treatments in Eastern Washington.

Nonprofits in the Walla Walla Valley and Yakima area also received grants. Baker Boyer contributes about $200,000 annually in donations and sponsorships to support nonprofits and community organizations. This amount has nearly doubled this year in response to increased needs caused by the pandemic.

• A $35,000 donation from the Albertsons and Safeway Foundation will be used to support Richland School District’s weekly distribution of free meals to all children in the community. The contribution will help defray additional costs from those efforts, such as food containers, sacks and thermal packaging.
• Washington River Protection Solutions donated $20,000 to the Washington State STEM Education Foundation to advance career-connected learning programs, including STEM Like Me!, an initiative that promotes interaction between STEM professionals and students. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math, disciplines that represent the fastest areas of job growth in the 21st century. The foundation launched STEM Like Me! in 2014 with an initial $35,000 design grant from WRPS.