Newsmakers: March 4-10, 2024

Banking & Finance
Ryan Hurn of New York Life and NYLife Securities LLC earned the chartered financial consultant designation from The American College of Financial Services.

OMB Bank was designated a preferred lender by the U.S. Small Business Administration, giving its commercial lending team authority to make final credit decisions on SBA-guaranteed loans. Qualified financial institutions meet the SBA’s processing volume, performance, risk mitigation and policy knowledge criteria.

Education
Missouri’s Nursing Education Incentive Program awarded Missouri State University a $377,000 grant for its accelerated master’s in nursing program. The funds will support two new program faculty members.

College of the Ozarks’ W. Alton Jones Dairy received honors from Holstein Association USA in its 2023 High Ranking Breed Age Average Lists. The school ranked No. 1 in colleges and universities, No. 2 in Missouri and No. 3 in regionally.

Health Care
David Argueta, president of Mercy Springfield Communities, was elected as a state delegate to the American Hospital Association’s regional policy board and appointed as a member of the Missouri Hospital Association Board of Trustees. His term with AHA, which represents hospitals and health care systems on national policies, runs through Dec. 31, 2026. MHA, which Argueta joined Jan. 1, advocates on behalf of 140 Missouri hospitals on governance and policy matters.

Citizens Memorial Hospital and Bolivar Family Care Center added Nicole Davis, a licensed master social worker, and James Lowery, a licensed professional counselor, to the medical staff. Davis and Lowery are members of the school-based therapy team serving the Bolivar R-1 School District. Davis holds a bachelor’s in social work from Southwest Baptist University and a master’s in social work from Missouri State University. Lowery holds a bachelor’s in pastoral studies from Central Bible College and a master’s in counseling from the Assembly of God Theological Seminary.

CMH made five director-level appointments: Courtney Boland in the intensive care unit/telemetry; Jordan Hembree in pre-hospital services; Tiffney Martin of The Birth Place; Tanya Mincks of Parkview Geriatric Wellness; and Jami Sanders in the emergency department. Boland has worked for the system since 2016 and holds an associate degree in nursing from SBU and a master’s in nursing-family nurse practitioner from Walden University in Minnesota. Hembree has worked in emergency services since 2006, most recently for CoxHealth, and holds a master’s in health care administration from Southern New Hampshire University. A CMH employee since 2015, Martin holds an associate degree in nursing from Bolivar Technical College. Mincks has eight years of behavioral health nursing experience and holds an associate degree in nursing from Cox College. With experience working in medical-surgical and ICU departments, and as a travel nurse, Sanders holds an associate degree in nursing from Bolivar Technical College.

Nonprofit
The Connecting Grounds church and homeless services organization appointed Shine Lee as interim executive director, succeeding former Associate Pastor Rue Lohn. Lee had served as a volunteer of the organization.