Published: October 13, 2008 10:40 pm            

On The Move: Oct. 14, 2008

TERRE HAUTE — Erik Southard is the new administrator of the Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health.

Southard has been with the center since 2004 as director of special projects and was named administrator in July. He is responsible for the operations of the Lugar Center as well as grant writing and communicating goals to the community and legislators. He earned his master’s degree at Indiana State University as a family nurse practitioner and is pursuing his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in leadership and health policy.

The current mission of Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health (formerly Midwest Center for Rural Health) is to prepare and train primary care physicians for successful rural practice and to expose individuals not yet decided on a career to the rewards of delivering health care services in a rural area. Essential to the mission is the continuous development of a multidisciplinary model that demonstrates innovative approaches to practicing in and delivering health care to rural populations.

Three key components help the Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health achieve its mission. The Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health prepares and trains residents for successful rural practice. The Lugar Center’s Rural Training Track curriculum focuses on procedural, hands-on training in the rural environment through the Union Hospital Family Medicine Residency program. On-site training is conducted in primary care medicine at three training sites, as well as on-site at Union Hospital. These training facilities include the Union Hospital-based Family Medicine Center and adjacent hospital in Terre Haute; and two federally designated rural health clinics in Clay and Greene counties. Clay City Center for Family Medicine and Worthington Family Medicine are model training sites that provide medical and behavioral health care services to rural Indiana communities.

The Lugar Center developed a multidisciplinary model for health care. Multidisciplinary teams, composed of physicians, residents, mid-level providers (physician assistants, nurse practitioners), nurses and behavioral health specialists address patient needs at the three sites in southwestern Indiana. The team also encourages input from advisory councils, community health officials, schools, allied health professionals, grantors and other community organizations in an effort to continually improve patient services.



Evan Kokoska, M.D., has joined the team of pediatric surgeons at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent in Indianapolis.

He graduated from Terre Haute South Vigo High School in 1985, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1989.

Kokoska received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and trained in general surgery at St. Louis University. He completed his pediatric surgery training at Riley Hospital for Children.

For the past five years, Kokoska has been an assistant professor at Arkansas Children’s Hospital associated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. During this time, he was the first surgeon in the region to achieve a minimally invasive approach to numerous pediatric conditions, including duodenal atresia, newborn gastroesophageal reflux disease, pulmonary lobe disease and myasthenia gravis. Kokoska also specializes in chest wall deformities.

The Terre Haute native joins a team of three pediatric surgeons. Through his affiliation with the Manning hospital, Kokoska also is a member of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center with a faculty appointment as an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

For more information about the Manning hospital, call (317) 338-8857.

III

Angela K. Fuller has joined trust services of First Financial Bank in Robinson, Ill., as an assistant vice president and trust officer. An attorney and member of the bar in Indiana and Illinois, she has more than 10 years in estate and trust planning and administration.

A native of Robinson, Fuller attended Vincennes University and completed her bachelor’s degree in finance at Indiana State University. She received her juris doctorate from the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Amy E. Doan has joined First Financial as a commercial lending officer in the bank’s Clay Region. Her office will be in the banking center at 7995 N. State Road 59, Brazil. Doan has nine years of banking experience and has worked as a personal financial adviser, a mortgage loan officer and most recently as a commercial lender in the Greencastle area.

A native of Greencastle, she graduated from Greencastle High School and received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Evansville, where she was a finance major.

First Financial Bank is a member of First Financial Corp.



Michelle Fredeking, a native of Fairview Heights, Ill., has joined the development staff of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods in the Office of Congregational Advancement.

She most recently served as executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Delaware in Western Sussex County. She and her family moved to Terre Haute earlier this year.

Previously, Fredeking served as office manager, heart walk director and “Go Red for Women” director for the American Heart Association at St. Louis. She also served as director of development and marketing for Big Brothers and Big Sisters at Belleville, Ill.; administrative assistant to the director of small business, membership services representative and manager of member relations for St. Louis RCGA.

She graduated from Belleville Area College, Belleville, Ill., and has additional training in board development, fundraising best practices, volunteer management and recruitment and customer service.



Jessica Hornbaker has joined the Westminster Village marketing team as a sales counselor. She is responsible for assisted living sales and community outreach. Since only starting a few weeks ago, she has already been involved in health expos, seminars and other events. Hornbaker graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies focusing on corporate communications.

        

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