Newsmakers

The artwork of Benjamin Schulman, Drury University associate professor of art, was featured in American Craft magazine. Schulman's recent works include stacks of hand-thrown porcelain plates, cups and saucers, inspired by a year in South Korea.

Drury also announced the April 1 retirement of Karen Sweeney, executive vice president and longtime dean of students. Krystal Compas on June 1 will move from vice president for enrollment management into a new role as assistant to the president.

Employment

Springfield Area Human Resource Association named the following officers for 2006: Melissa Carr, president; Lori Strawhun, president-elect; Lynn Farnen, secretary; Randal Hyde, treasurer; Donna Cole, past president; Nancy Murrell, area compensation and benefits chair; Lori Melton, communication chair; Hannah Bollenbach, diversity chair; Tina Moore, college relations and work force readiness chair; Dan Beeman, governmental affairs chair; Malinda Stevens, membership chair; Laura Ward, professional development chair; and Camille Knowles, program chair.

Health Care

McKesson Corp. had 20 products rated in the top three for their categories in the Top 20: 2005 Best in the KLAS year-end report issued by KLAS Enterprises Inc. Of those, three McKesson products won No. 1 rankings in their categories. Two McKesson solutions received Best in KLAS ratings; Horizon Medical Imaging was top in the community sector while the combination of Pathways Materials Management and Pathways Financial Management was No. 1 in the financial category for the third consecutive year. KLAS Enterprises' annual rankings are based on interviews with health care executives, professionals and clinicians.

Registered nurse Sylvia Speer, oncology coordinator with Oxford HealthCare, completed the Education for Physicians/ Providers in the End of Life Care program, which aims to improve the quality of end-of-life care. Speer is now certified to train others in the end-of-life care.

Cheryl Fitch, assistant vice president of Oxford HealthCare, was elected to a two-year term on the Board of the Missouri Council for In-Home Services, which provides services to the state's Medicaid population.

Cindy Waites of Junior League of Springfield was added to the CoxHealth Foundation Board of Directors. Waites holds bachelor's degrees in molecular biology and economics from Vanderbilt University and a master's degree from the University of Michigan School of Business. She also has a master's degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Hospitality

David Smith was appointed general manager of the Lamplighter Inn South in Springfield. Smith, who had been working as acting general manager of the hotel for the past five months, replaces Adam Coleman. Coleman was moved into the general manager position at the Lamplighter Inn North as part of a management reorganization.

Housing

Carlson Gardner Inc. received the Silver Award in the category of Renovated Seniors Housing at the National Association of Home Builders' 2006 Best of Seniors Housing Awards. The award was for its historic preservation of Franciscan Villa Senior Apartments in Springfield. The company received first place in the category last year for the Frisco Station Apartments in Joplin.

Insurance

Casey Chastain of Sentry Insurance Dealer Operations recently received a No. 1 ranking nationally from Sentry in its business retirement planning segment. The award is based on sales production throughout the whole company for 2005.[[In-content Ad]]