Newsmakers

Baseball

Tim Clegg was promoted to interim general manager of the Springfield-Ozark Mountain Ducks. Former GM Todd Rahr will step aside from the position to accept the title of vice president and consultant for the team. Eric Day, director of sales, was promoted to the position of corporate sales manager. David Klopfer joined the Ducks as the media/community relations manager.

Fair

Patrick Lloyd is the new manager of the Ozark Empire Fair, replacing Marla Calico who resigned. Lloyd previously served as executive director of Nebraska State Fair Park in Lincoln, Neb., for two years. Lloyd also has 17 years of experience as executive director of Expo Square, a public events complex in Tulsa, Okla. He is a certified fair executive of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions, which he served in 1995 as president and chairman of the board.

The Ozark Empire Fair Board of Directors announced its 2004 officers. Debi Murray Bennett was elected president, Noel Boyd was elected vice president and Larry Ellison was elected treasurer. Murray, of Murney Associates, has served on the board since 1993 and filled several board positions. Boyd is affiliated with Citizens National Bank. He served the board as secretary in 2002 and vice president in 2003. Ellison, who specializes in forensic accounting and litigation services at Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller, CPAs, PC joined the board in 2001. This is his second year to serve as treasurer. Two new board members Brian Hammons, president of Hammons Products Company in Stockton, and Bruce Johnson, agriculture economics professor, joined the fair's board of directors to fill vacancies left by retiring board members Al Ellison and Charlie O'Reilly.

Finance

Nadia Cavner, senior vice president and top senior financial consultant for USBancorp Investments, was elected to the American Bible Society Board of Trustees.

Health Care

St. John's Health Systems ranked 20th on the 2004 IHN 100 ranking by Verispan, a Chicago-based research firm that has ranked health care networks for the past six years based on their financial and clinical performance, as well as their degree of integration. Serving more than 240,000 people, St. John's has more than 400 clinic physicians in the region with hospitals in Springfield, Lebanon, Mountain View, Aurora, Cassville and Berryville, Ark.

Cox Stroke Center and St. John's Stroke Center have been awarded the Gold Seal of Approval and Disease-Specific Care Certification from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The commission evaluated Cox Stroke Center and St. John's Stoke Center in January to assess their compliance with the Joint Commission's state-of-the-art national standards and performance measurement expectations for chronic care illnesses.

Bob Scheid, president of Lakes Country Rehabilitation Center, was appointed by Gov. Bob Holden to serve on the Missouri Head Injury Advisory Council. The council studies and makes recommendations to policy makers to improve, expand, coordinate and develop a service delivery system, including prevention, for survivors of head injuries and their families. The nomination is subject to confirmation by the Missouri Senate.

Independent living

The Gardens Assisted Living and Parkmoor at The Gardens Independent Living announced a promotion and a staff addition. Andrew McCormick was promoted to marketing director for both facilities. He previously served as marketing director for Parkmoor. Annell Haase joined the marketing team for both facilities. She has experience in the senior living and hospitality industries. In her new position, she focuses on marketing outreach.