SBJ names 2023 class of Health Care Champions

Springfield Business Journal continues its tradition of honoring local health care professionals during November’s Health Care Champions awards event.

An independent panel of judges selected individual recipients in the following fields: physician, specialty provider, administrator, advanced practice provider, nurse and health care professional. Health care organizations also were awarded based on employee size: large, companies with 500 or more employees; midsize, 100-499 employees; and small, up to 99 employees.

The 2023 honorees are:

• Physician: Dr. Stephen R. Adams, medical director at AIDS Project of the Ozarks; and Dr. Mark Walterskirchen, urologist and surgeon at Citizens Memorial Hospital.
• Specialty Provider: Mariah Hollabaugh, system director of pharmacy for Citizens Memorial Hospital; Sandra Rice, associate optometrist at The Vision Clinic PC; and Dana Scott, physical therapist at CoxHealth.
• Administrator: Tessie Bowmaker, nurse manager in the Neurotrauma and Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at CoxHealth; and Dr. Ronald Evans, chief medical officer for Citizens Memorial Hospital.
• Advanced Practice Provider: Jeff Del Vecchio, physician assistant at Mercy Springfield Communities; Kim Doolin, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at Citizens Memorial Hospital; and Kim McGinn-Perryman, family nurse practitioner at CoxHealth.
• Nurse: Ruth Brown, NEST partnership coordinator for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department; Angela Long, director of behavioral health operations for Citizens Memorial Hospital; and Heather Ulm, clinical nurse educator at Mercy Hospital Springfield.
• Health Care Professional: Valerie Alfano, outpatient therapist at Burrell Behavioral Health; and Lori Pace, hospital services specialist at Mid-America Transplant Services.
• Health Care Organization: Jordan Valley Community Health Center, large; Eustasis Psychiatric & Addiction Health, midsize; and AIDS Project of the Ozarks, small.

The Health Care Champions banquet is scheduled Nov. 14 at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center. More information can be found at SBJ.net/HealthCare.