SBJ names 2025 class of Health Care Champions

Springfield Business Journal is unveiling its 2025 Health Care Champions honorees.

An independent panel of judges selected individual recipients among nominees in the following fields: physician, specialty provider, advanced practice provider, administrator, nurse and health care professional.

Health care organizations were also awarded in three categories, according to size: large, companies with 500 or more employees; midsize, 100-499 employees; and small, up to 99 employees.

The 2025 honorees of the year are:

Physician: Dr. Kyle John, medical director, The Arc of the Ozarks; and Dr. Melissa Gaines, director of hospice and palliative care, CoxHealth.

Specialty Provider: Dr. Ashley Meyer, doctor of dental surgery and owner, Dental 32; Brandi Bowers, PharmD, clinical associate professor, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy at MSU Care clinical practice site; and Journey McCarty, PharmD, clinical pharmacy specialist II – ambulatory care, Mercy Springfield Communities.

Administrator: Katie Towns, director, Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

Advanced Practice Provider: Rachel Choate, director of advanced practice nursing, St. Croix Hospice.

Nurse: Marla Housley, advanced clinical nurse educator, Mercy Springfield Communities; and Meagan Steiner, patient experience educator, Cox Medical Center Branson.

Health Care Professional: Amanda Altobell, Ph.D., director of ethics, Mercy Springfield Communities; and Hunter Douglas, hospice admissions RN, Haven Home Health and Hospice.

Health Care Organization honorees of the year are: The Arc of the Ozarks, large; Jordan Valley Community Health Center, midsize; Mercy’s MSU Care Clinic, small.

The banquet is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at DoubleTree by Hilton Springfield convention center.