People on the Move

REPOSTED from THE CITIZENS VOICE BY LISA ZACCAGNINO

Allied Services Integrated Health System

The health system announced the promotion of Robert Cole, Ph.D. to the position senior vice president/chief analytics officer. Prior to his promotion, Cole served as chief analytics officer for the nonprofit health system. A 21-year employee of Allied Services, Cole will continue to play a senior leadership role lending his knowledge and expertise to analyzing strategic, financial and operational challenges and opportunities within the organization.

Cole earned a master’s and a doctorate in experimental psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and brings strong data analytics backed by actionable insights into the organization’s business lines. Cole lives in Duryea with his wife, Donna, and their daughter, Carsyn. He grew up in Duryea, graduated from Pittston Area High School and earned his Bachelor in Psychology from Bloomsburg University in 1992.

Mary Lynn Hayes, CHFM, recently earned the designation of certified healthcare facility manager from the American Hospital Association. The CHFM is a national credential earned through professional experience, adherence to professional standards and CHFM testing. A seven-year employee, Hayes is a facility services manager at the Scranton location. She is responsible for monitoring policies, procedures and documentation for life safety, hazardous materials and emergency management regulatory compliance for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations Joint Commission, Department of Health, Department of Public Works, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other healthcare agencies. A veteran of Air Force and resident of Scranton, Hayes enjoys the variety her role offers and the opportunity to support and interact with staff from all divisions and departments.

Commonwealth Health

Cheryl MacDonald-Sweet, trauma director at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, was elected president of the Pa. State Council of the Emergency Nurses Association. She also was nominated to the slate for the National Board of Directors of the Emergency Nurses Association.

MacDonald-Sweet, a resident of Newton Twp., is a forensic nurse for the Lackawanna County Children’s Advocacy Center and serves as the director of the paramedic program at Lackawan­na College.

Geisinger

A pair of the health system’s physician leaders are among the authors of a new article published by the Harvard Business Review titled “Why GE, Boeing, Lowe’s and Walmart are Directly Buying Health Care for Employees.”

They are Jaewon Ryu, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer; and Jonathan Slotkin, M.D., director of spinal surgery for the system’s Neuroscience Institute and medical director of Geisinger in Motion.

The article details development of bundled payments in U.S. healthcare and how large employers are now directly purchasing bundled care for their employees through selected providers. Lowe’s, Walmart, McKesson and JetBlue Airways have recently partnered with the Pacific Business Group on Health and Health Design Plus to launch the Employers Centers of Excellence Network. It helps employers identify quality providers and negotiate bundled payments.

The network provides employees of participating companies with 100 percent coverage for all travel and medical expenses at carefully selected healthcare systems. Patients pay no out-of-pocket costs.

Golden

Technologies Inc.

Iraida Ruiz Ortiz was selected employee of the month for June. An employee at Golden since 2015, she works in the sewing department in Old Forge. The Employee Recognition Committee received compelling support for Ortiz’s selection, noting her professionalism, attention to detail and ability to work as a team player.

Ortiz, who resides in Old Forge, was awarded a framed plaque, preferred parking for the month, and a monetary gift.

Landmark

Community Bank

Ellen Leighton has been named vice president/manager of the bank’s Residential Mortgage Department. In her new position, Leighton will manage the residential mortgage department for all five branches of the bank and will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Thomas V. Amico.

Leighton presently has 29 years of experience in the banking industry. She joined Landmark Community Bank in 2009 as a mortgage originator/processor before being promoted to positions of greater responsibility.

She earned an associate degree in business from Lackawanna College and is licensed as a mortgage broker in the states of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A native of Scranton, Leighton lives in Wilkes-Barre with her husband, John, and daughter, Jaclyn.

OneSource HR Solutions

Clarks-Summit resident Laura Jeffrey has been appointed human resources specialist for the Wilkes-Barre company. She will be providing human resource and labor law compliance expertise to companies of all sizes as a member of the OneSource consulting team.

Jeffrey has more than 10 years of direct human resources experience with responsibilities ranging from generalist work, benefit administration, recruitment and leadership training. A graduate of King’s college with a Bachelor of Arts in human resources management, Jeffrey also earned her SHRM Senior Certified Professional accreditation in 2015.

Nicole Lutz and Tammy Monahan have been appointed payroll specialists. They will be providing payroll processing and customer service to multiple clients as part of the payroll service team.

Lutz has eight years of payroll and human resources experience with responsibilities ranging from generalist work, benefit administration to payroll processing. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in sports and recreation management with a concentration in marketing.

Monahan has extensive experience in customer service, crisis management and office management. She has received training for adult learners, equal opportunity and behavioral interviewing.

Pa. Bar

Association

The association has named more than 80 lawyers as 2017-18 chairs of its committees and sections. The list of chairs includes the following lawyers:

Elaine Cook, Drums, was named co-chairwoman of the Health Care Law Committee, which monitors legislation and litigation that affect the health care system.

Melinda C. Ghilardi, federal public defender, Scranton, was named co-chairwoman of the Diversity Team, which establishes resources and forums to increase communications among its groups with diversity initiatives by working collaboratively with the association’s leadership, staff and other association-related entities, including the Pa. Bar Foundation, the Pa. Bar Insurance Fund and Trust Fund, PABAR-PAC and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.

Richard M. Goldberg, Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn P.C., Kingston, was renamed chairman of the PBA Judicial Campaign Advertising Committee, which promotes accurate, fair and dignified judicial campaign advertising among candidates seeking election to the commonwealth’s appellate courts by monitoring and reviewing complaints.

Guerline L. Laurore, Law Office of Guerline L. Laurore P.C., Kingston, was renamed chairwoman of the PBA Immigration Law Committee, which addresses issues in the area of immigration law, monitors and makes recommendations concerning legislation in this area, and promotes understanding of immigration related laws, regulations and court decisions.

Michael J. McDonald, McDonald & MacGregor LLC, Scranton, was named co-chairman of the Membership Development Committee, which develops and implements programs to increase the association’s membership base and to retain current members.

Lee S. Piatt, Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald LLP, Wilkes-Barre, was named co-chairman of the Shale Energy Law Committee, which communicates with fellow PBA members about shale energy legislation and regulations and facilitates education about shale energy for lawyers and the public.

David E. Schwager, Chariton, Schwager & Malak, Wilkes-Barre, also serving as treasurer, was named chairman of the Planning Committee, which assists the presidential leadership by identifying priorities and initiatives to ensure the continuation of programs and policies that are beneficial to the association and its membership.

Pa. Medical

Society

Gerald Tracy, M.D., a cardiovascular disease specialist from South Abington Twp. who is credited for being a medical education visionary, was named the 2017 recipient of the society’s Distinguished Service Award.

This award is given by the state medical society to members for lifetime achievements in medicine. Its first recipient in 1956 was Jonas E. Salk, M.D., for his achievements in developing the anti-polio vaccine. Since it was first awarded, PAMED has honored 26 Pennsylvania physicians and two non-physicians. It is considered the highest award a member can receive from the statewide organization.

A founding member of the Medical Education Development Consortium in 2004, Tracy along with others foresaw a need in northeastern and north central Pennsylvania for a medical college to help increase the number of practicing physicians in local and nearby communities as well as to improve patient access to care in the area. This grassroots effort led to the development of the Commonwealth Medical College, now Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, with the first class entering in 2009.

Dr. Tracy retired in May 2014 from the medical college as the Regional Associate Dean of the North Campus, but continues to work with various departments including the Dean’s Office, Admissions, Institutional Advancement, and Student Affairs.

He was nominated for the award by the Lackawanna County Medical Society, and has been a member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society for 40 years.

Penn State Worthington

Scranton

Fred Aebli, instructor in information sciences and technology and IST internship coordinator, is the 2017 recipient of the University’s College of IST Excellence in Teaching Award.

The College of IST Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes non-full-time University Park faculty contributing to the College’s teaching mission through residential or on-line instruction. To qualify, the faculty member should consistently provide an exceptional learning environment for students through their innovative teaching practices, excellence in creative engagement, and dedication to student learners. This is Aebli’s second University award, having received the College of Information Sciences and Technology’s Statewide Faculty Member of the Year for 2015-16, which is given to a faculty member who has consistently supported IST programs at his or her campus, has been a champion for the college, and has made a difference in the community.

He was also a presenter at the 2015 Annual Online Learning Consortium International Conference in Orlando, Florida, where he gave a presentation on using Gamification Techniques in a Crime and Terrorism Course.

Aebli, a University and Worthington Scranton alumnus, is also a Marine Corps veteran who attained the rank of major. He received his master’s degree from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, and prior to joining Worthington Scranton, he worked for Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), and Scientech Inc.

He resides with his wife and their three children in Moscow.

Kristin E.C. Green, acting head librarian and reference librarian at the campus, was a presenter at the Innovative Library Classroom Conference at Radford University in Radford, VA in May.

Her session, titled: “Dust off those Encyclopedias: Using Reference Sources to Teach the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy” was formulated around the question — what if the ideal tools for teaching undergraduate students the most critical information literacy concepts have been sitting in the stacks all along collecting dust, or wading out in digital space un-encountered?

The Innovative Library Classroom Conference is a day-long conference dedicated to the exploration of innovative practices related to teaching and learning in libraries.

TILC is an experience that has grown out of the regional Libraries Exchange Observation project. LEO was originally created by instruction librarians from three southwest Virginia institutions: Radford University, Hollins University, and Virginia Tech. The goal of the group was to promote cross-institutional peer-observation, and now includes group meetings and workshops that take place each semester.

Dr. Yili Lian, assistant professor of business at the campus, has published a paper that was recognized as a “Highly Commended Paper” in the 2017 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.

The paper, “Do bank lending relationships affect corporate cash policy?” was published in the Review of Accounting and Finance. Lian’s co-authors were Huajing Hu, department of finance and economics, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY and Chih-Huei Su, Cameron School of Business, University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX.

The authors found that firms with lending relationships maintain a lower level of cash holdings and save less cash out of cash flow. Furthermore, the effect of lending relationships is more profound for firms with high cash flow. The results suggest that prior lending relations alleviate information asymmetry, lower the cost of capital and therefore affect firms’ propensity to retain cash and maintain a high level of cash holdings.

Dr. Lian has been teaching at the campus since 2013. Prior to joining the University, he was an adjunct professor and Ph.D. student at Baruch College, City University of New York, where he attained his doctorate in finance.

PennDOT

The department recognized 30 PennDOT employees for their outstanding performance with the Star of Excellence Award, its highest recognition. Two employees from District 4, which represents Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties were among the honorees.

Local winners Paul Smith and Richard Summa were honored recently at an awards luncheon at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.

Smith, of Drums, recently served as the construction inspector for a $42 million interchange project at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. Because the project involved extensive nighttime work on the interstate, Smith used his 35 years’ experience to ensure the safety of workers and motorists. By making safety a top priority, the project was completed with no safety incidents. One important feature of the project was a new access road leading to an industrial park. A portion of this mile-long roadway was built over a Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil (GRS) slope. Because of his negotiations with the contractor, the department saved $400,000 in the construction of this slope.

Summa, of Dunmore, is a bridge design squad leader in District 4 who has developed techniques and processes that are used to prepare large scale interstate rehabilitation projects. By preparing the necessary plans and specifications in-house, he has been able to save the department thousands of dollars each year. Recently, he oversaw the design of an entire multiple interstate bridge preservation project in less than one year. To have a consultant design this project would have cost the department $850,000, yet he was able to complete this with his design squad. Summa works closely with the district’s Bridge Maintenance Coordinator to allow counties to reach bridge cleaning goals at an affordable cost.

The Star of Excellence Awards are presented annually to employees who represent the department’s values of service, performance and integrity. The recipients represent a variety of organizational positions, spanning from highway maintenance and driver and vehicle services workers, to traffic control specialists, communications staff and design and engineering specialists.

University

of Scranton

The university has named George W. Krull Jr., Ph.D., as a global strategic advisor for its new doctor of business administration (DBA) program. Krull served as a partner in the executive office of Grant Thornton LLP and was the firm’s chief learning officer. Since retiring, he has remained active with the academic and professional accounting communities. He has served as an executive-in-residence and professor of accounting at Bradley University where he was awarded emeritus status in 2011.

During his distinguished career, Krull has served with the American Accounting Association, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Pathways Commission. He was a member of the AACSB International’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Accreditation Quality, has served four terms on the AACSB’s Accounting Accreditation Committee and continues doing business and accounting accreditation peer reviews.

In 2014, Krull was recognized as one of one hundred distinguished graduates of Spears School at Oklahoma State during its centennial anniversary celebration, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Spears School Hall of Fame. In 2016, he received the American Accounting Association Outstanding Service Award. For the past academic year, he served as the interim chair of the accounting department at St. Louis University.

Krull received his undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees from Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University and Michigan State University, respectively, and he received an honorary degree from Northern Illinois University.