Newsmakers: Nov. 4-10, 2024

Accounting
Skylar Smith was promoted to department head of KPM Wealth Advisors LLC. Smith has more than 12 years of experience in the financial services industry and serves as an officer on the Greene County Estate Planning Council.

Chambers of Commerce
The Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce & Convention and Visitors Bureau hired Kristina Hagey as director of sports sales and development. She most recently served as senior sales and events executive at the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson.

Education
The Missouri State University Board of Governors appointed Susan Hardy, of Nixa, as its student member. A senior majoring in history, Hardy is an educational program intern at the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Government
The city of Ozark named Tracey Hasler as human resources director. Previously a supervisor in the city’s utility billing department, Hasler has 13 years of experience as HR manager at the Nixa Walmart store.

Health Care
Citizens Memorial Hospital hired Dr. Franco Aguilar to the medical team at Willard Medical Center and Walk-in Clinic. Specializing in family medicine, Aguilar earned his medical degree from the Atlantic University School of Medicine in St. Lucia and completed his family medicine residency at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Dr. Ajdin Kobic was hired as a dermatologist at the CMH Dermatology Clinic in Bolivar. Kobic attended medical school at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, and completed his dermatology residency at the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education in Rochester and his fellowship in Mohs micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

The CMH Heart Institute Clinic added Dr. Dishang R. Bhavsar to its medical staff. With his medical degree from B.J. Medical College in India, Bhavsar completed his internal medicine residency at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York, and fellowships in cardiovascular medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Cardiovascular Medicine and in interventional cardiology at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital/Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in New York City.

Dr. Rachel Pruett joined the CMH General Surgery Clinic. She graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine in Little Rock, and she completed a general surgery residency at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida.

Valerie Noblitt, director of home care services for the CMH Foundation, received the Pioneer Leadership Award from the Missouri Alliance for Home Care. The award honors individuals for their contributions to the advancement of home care on the state and national levels. An MAHC board member since 2014, Noblitt is serving as president until 2026.

Nonprofit
The Ozark Trails Council Inc. of Boy Scouts of America appointed Rebecca Hultz as district executive for its River Trails and Frontier districts. Originally from New York, Hultz earned her bachelor’s in human and family services from Empire State University.