A look at recent promotions, hirings and recognitions from Acadiana's business community.
Two neonatologists with the Women's & Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit recently earned board certification. Drs. Amy Zeringue and Kristine Chimento, both neonatologists with Pediatrix Medical Group of Louisiana, are trained specifically to treat the most complex and high-risk newborn patients affected by premature birth, illness, injury or birth defects. Zeringue graduated summa cum laude in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Centenary College of Louisiana at Shreveport before earning a medical degree from LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She completed an internship and residency with the LSU Health Sciences Center Pediatric Residency Program and a neonatal-perinatal clinical fellowship with the university before joining Pediatrix in Lafayette. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Chimento received the University Medal at LSU in Baton Rouge, where in 2003 she earned a bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in chemistry. After acquiring a medical degree in 2007 from LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Chimento completed an internship and residency in pediatrics followed by a fellowship in neonatology before joining Pediatrix. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Worldwide ERC recently announced that 211 of its members earned the Certified Relocation Professional designation after successfully passing the CRP exam. Coldwell Banker Pelican's Relocation Director Linda Myers is included among the individuals who earned the designation. A native of Crowley, Myers joined the Coldwell Banker Pelican team in 2012. She has practiced as a licensed real estate agent for more than 25 years and is the first line of contact with corporate clients and their transferees. One of only two agents in the state to hold the CRP designation, Myers also received the Cartus Five Star Award from Cartus Broker Network in March for exceeding her individual objectives for outgoing broker-to-broker referral closings during the calendar year.
Faith LeBrun has been promoted to director of peri-op services at Lafayette General Medical Center. A nurse at LGMC for 19 years, LeBrun has been working as the assistant director for the past two years and played a critical role in the planning of the hospital's new OR suites.
Attorney William E. Kellner has joined Liskow & Lewis's Lafayette office as an associate. Kellner's practice focuses on the areas of energy litigation, business litigation, and maritime, oilfield and insurance issues, and he has represented clients in both state and federal courts. Kellner previously was an associate at Armstrong Teasdale in St. Louis, Mo. Kellner earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from the Saint Louis University School of Law. Additionally, he served as a managing editor of the St. Louis University Law Journal and was a member of the Moot Court. Before entering law, Kellner was a collegiate basketball coach. Kellner earned both his B.A. and M.B.A. from UL Lafayette.
BBR Creative has hired Samantha Rebowe as project manager. Rebowe is responsible for coordinating and managing digital, creative and video projects for the agency. A native of South Louisiana, Rebowe graduated from LSU with a B.A. in mass communication. She served as volunteer and community outreach coordinator for Girls on the Run South Louisiana and as a communications intern for the athletic departments at LSU and the University of San Francisco. Before joining BBR, Rebowe worked for Baton Rouge Business Report and 225 Magazine.
Kevin Davis of Coldwell Banker Commercial Pelican graduated from the Coldwell Banker Commercial Emerging Broker Training program. The Emerging Broker Training is a four-month, comprehensive training program targeted for CBC professionals with one year or less experience in commercial sales/leasing. The program covers the key components of the commercial real estate and is a blend of traditional classroom training followed by live Internet classes, self-paced learning and structured participation of a mentor in the home office. The program then ends with three more days of classroom training.
Cardiovascular Institute of the South and LGMC have added Dr. Viral Lathia to the cardiology team at University Hospital & Clinics. Lathia is providing cardiovascular care to patients at 2390 W. Congress St., 7th floor east. Lathia is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular computed tomography and nuclear cardiology. He completed his internal medicine residency through LSU's Graduate Medical Education program in Lafayette and his cardiology fellowship at the LSU program in New Orleans. He also earned his bachelor of medicine and B.S. at Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College in India.
LHC Group has elected Brent Turner to its board of directors. Turner serves on the board's audit and corporate development committees. Turner joined Acadia Healthcare Company, a provider of inpatient behavioral health care, in February 2011 and currently serves as Acadia's president.
Cammy Watts Green has joined the UL Lafayette Foundation as executive assistant to the president/CEO. In addition to providing administrative support, she maintains the foundation board of trustees' corporate minutes, meeting schedules and general office oversight and supervises the foundation's document management system. For almost six years, Green was librarian of the A.H. Clifford Mathematics Research Library at Tulane University, where she also provided administrative and staff support to the mathematics and computer science departments. A New Orleans native, Green holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Elon University in Elon, N.C. While at Elon, she traveled to Europe and to Costa Rica, where she lived with a family for a semester. Her interest in different cultures prompted her to become professionally trained in the culinary arts. She graduated from the Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge in 2008.
Dr. Susan Conway has joined FertilityAnswers and Fertility & Women's Health Center of Louisiana. The reproductive endocrinologist joins Drs. John Storment, William Pelletier and James Zehnder after practicing in a private infertility practice in Atlanta, Ga., for the past nine years. The California native received her medical degree in 1993 from Emory University in Atlanta, after also completing a masters of public health and a masters of medical sciences. She subsequently completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology from the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, followed by fellowship training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington. Conway has published numerous articles and abstracts on the subjects of infertility, in vitro fertilization, endometriosis and ectopic pregnancy.
Dr. Virginia Kellner has joined local neurologists Drs. David Weir, Damon Patterson and Adam Foreman at Lafayette General Health's Neuroscience Center of Acadiana. Kellner is returning to Acadiana from St. Louis, Mo., where she completed her fellowship and residency. Kellner treats a variety of neurological conditions, including migraines, epilepsy and neuropathy. A Lafayette High School valedictorian, Kellner graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University and earned her doctor of medicine from LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. She completed her residency at Washington University's Barnes Jewish Hospital and her fellowship at Saint Louis University Hospital. Board certified with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, she is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Medical Association. Also at LGH, Dr. Angela Ducote Snow has joined Internal Medicine Physicians and the practice of Drs. Michael Alexander, Bradley Chastant II and Juan Perez-Ruiz. Snow has worked in Lafayette since 2007. She manages both acute and chronic medical conditions, performs routine maintenance exams, preventive screenings and vaccinations, and offers referrals. She earned her B.S. in psychology from Tulane University and graduated from the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans in 2004. Her residency and internship were completed at Baylor College of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine in Houston. Prior to practicing internal medicine in Lafayette, she was a research data coordinator at Ochsner Cancer Institute and a research assistant at St. Charles General Hospital in New Orleans. Snow is a board-certified diplomat with the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Larry Curtis has been selected for inclusion in the 21st edition of the Best Lawyers in America 2015 in the practice areas of admiralty and maritime law and personal injury litigation - plaintiffs. Curtis is a graduate of St. John's University and Loyola University's College of Law.
Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. LSSH is a 20-bed physician-owned hospital built in 2004. The facility has eight operating rooms and two procedure rooms that accommodate 8,000 total cases annually. LSSH, a physician-owned hospital, was named the 2014 Specialty Hospital of the Year by the Louisiana State Nurses Association. The hospital also recently received the 2014 Women's Choice Award, which recognizes it as one of America's Best Hospitals for Patient Experience, for the fourth consecutive year. This is the only award that identifies the country's best health care institutions based on robust criteria female consumers use to make health care decisions. Some of the most important factors women consider when choosing a hospital are quality physician communications, responsiveness of nurses and support staff, cleanliness and trusted referrals from other women.
Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise's board of commissioners has elected three new officers to its board. The elected officers are Don Briggs, vice chair; Tom Cox, reappointed secretary-treasurer, and Dr. Paula Phillips Carson, reappointed chair. Carson has also assumed the role of interim CEO. The current appointed commissioners include: Dr. Mark Zappi, Dr. Azmy Ackleh, Douglas Menefee and Jason El Koubi. The LITE Commission has three appointing authorities, Louisiana Economic Development, Lafayette Economic Development Authority and UL Lafayette, and was created by a legislative act in 2004.
Holbrook Multi Media has been chosen as HighPoint Technologies International's newest product tester. The two companies have struck a deal that will allow Holbrook to receive the latest and best of HighPoint's tech gear, starting the with much-buzzed about RocketStor 6328, in exchange for equipment case studies, feedback and in-the-field test-runs. HighPoint is a global enterprise and an Original Equipment Manufacturer for many top storage technology companies like G-Tech, a leading device provider in the production industry. HighPoint's latest product, the RocketStor 6328, has gained notoriety since its introduction in March for its support of Thunderbolt 2 hardware, making it the first of its kind. For filmmakers this means the hardware provides connectivity of previously unseen speed between devices, and processes Ultra HD and 4K footage in the richest of formats.
LGMC was recently honored with The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval, receiving the Disease-Specific Care Certification for Joint Replacement Hip and Knee. This certification demonstrates LGMC's compliance with The Joint Commission's national standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care. To achieve certification, LGMC underwent a rigorous on-site review and evaluation for compliance with standards of care specific to the needs of joint replacement patients and their families. Areas of evaluation included infection prevention and control, leadership and medication management. LGMC was also recently named among America's Best Hospitals for Patient Experience in Orthopedics. This award is given by WomenCertified to hospitals with comprehensive orthopedic programs that meet certain customer survey scores and wellness criteria. Additionally, the hospital received the 2014 Women's Choice Award, which recognizes it as one of America's Best Hospitals for Patient Experience. The award identifies the country's best health care institutions based on robust criteria female consumers use to make health care decisions.
Elizabeth and Jasmine Abdalla participated in the Lafayette Community Health Care Clinic's dedication of its medical laboratory in memory of the late Harold C. Abdalla. An active member of the Lafayette community, Harold Abdalla was a family man, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a member of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, a board member of GCCA and helped organize several fundraisers for the Louisiana Diabetes Association. Also at the clinic, former Teche Bank employees stepped up to honor Patrick and Elizabeth Little through a naming opportunity of the reception area. Elizabeth, a registered nurse, is a longtime clinic volunteer and also worked for the clinic for a short time. She was a founding member of the Inside/Outside Garden Program for a local elementary school and coordinated a shelter that provided medical assistance following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She has also served on the board of the Women's Imaging Centre.
In a recent report published in Forbes, Lafayette ranks as the eighth best manufacturing city in the U.S., according to an analysis completed by New Geography. Lafayette moved up 14 spots from its 2013 rank. Lafayette is also the No. 1 mid-sized metro area in the nation, up two spots from 2013. According to the report's authors, new energy finds and the resulting construction and expansion of pipelines and refineries have triggered more investment in many of the top cities on the list. Southern cities also experienced a boost in manufacturing operations because of the favorable business climate, including having a non-unionized workforce and lower taxes. Manufacturing employment, from 2002 to January 2014, in 357 metro areas was studied in the analysis. The rankings were based on recent growth trends (the last year and the previous two years), mid-term growth (2008-13), long-term growth (2002-13) and long-term momentum. Lafayette's overall index was 91.4. Local manufacturing employment grew 7.4 percent between 2012 and 2013. This growth is reflective of the data used by Business Facilities last summer, when Lafayette was ranked as the third best mid-sized MSA for manufacturing employment growth.
Frank's International welcomed a group of career and technical education teachers for a visit and tour of the company's manufacturing and machining center. The visit was part of the teachers' in-service training for the 2014-2015 school year and included meetings with Frank's engineering, safety and human resources departments. The teachers learned about the new technologies shaping the oil and gas industry and career paths available to students.
Lafayette's Painting with a Twist received two awards at the annual Painting with a Twist conference in New Orleans. The local franchise was recognized as the "Top Regional Producer" for having the highest sales in the south region and received a "5th Year Anniversary" award for being one of the original franchises to stay in business since Painting with a Twist first started franchising five years ago. The local shop competed with more than 160 Painting with a Twist franchises across the country.
The Lafayette Bar Association's Lafayette Young Lawyers Association has installed new board members: president, Trey Hightower, president-elect, Dwazendra Smith; secretary/treasurer, Travis Broussard; and immediate past president, Cliff LaCour.
Maria Manuel has joined IberiaBank as SVP and human resources regional director for Louisiana and Texas. Manuel has an extensive background in HR management and is certified as a Senior Professional of Human Resources. For the past 18 years she was a labor and employment attorney with the Onebane Law Firm in Lafayette. Manuel earned her law degree from LSU, where she graduated with honors. Manuel is a past state director and past state conference chair for the Louisiana Society for Human Resource Management.
Cox Communications and Verizon stood out for their wireline services in the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Business Study. Cox was first in the large enterprise business category for overall customer satisfaction index scores while Verizon placed second. On a 1,000-point scale, Cox scored 782 to edge Verizon's score of 779. Cox further scored a 5 on the J.D. Power Circle ratings, which was the highest mark attainable, while Verizon had a 4. AT&T was third at 778.
Dr. Jean C. Ancelet has joined the practice of Drs. Darrin Menard and Geoffrey Mire at Scott Family Physicians in Scott. A family medicine practitioner ,Ancelet has experience treating ailments such as allergies, asthma, arthritis, heart and blood pressure problems, diabetes and many other conditions. Ancelet earned his B.A. degree from Centenary College in Shreveport and his medical degree from the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. He completed his residency at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital and is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
St. Martin Hospital was named one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare for 2014 by Modern Healthcare magazine. The recognition honors workplaces throughout the health care industry, on a national level, that empower their employees to provide patients and customers with the best possible care, products and services. SMH is owned by LGMC.
Dr. Lauren F. Luke has opened Women's Health and Treatment Center of Acadiana at 700 Kaliste Saloom Road, Suite 601. A family medicine practitioner, Luke treats general health and wellness, including weight loss and medical-grade aesthetics. Luke earned her medical degree from the Ross University School of Medicine. She earned her B.A. degree in biological sciences at LSU in Baton Rouge. She completed her residency at University Medical Center in Lafayette (now University Hospital & Clinics) through LSU and an additional one-year internship in pediatrics at University of Buffalo Children's Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y.
LGMC is the first hospital in Acadiana, and only the third in Louisiana, to offer MAKOplasty, a minimally invasive treatment for adults suffering from early to mid-stage osteoarthritis. Using a highly advanced, surgeon-controlled robotic system, MAKO enables ultra-precise alignment and placement of implants in partial knee and total hip replacement procedures.