Business Beat

Architecture

MMEC Architecture and Interiors has announced the hiring of Mary Esther Knight. Originally from Walla Walla, Knight has three years of experience and comes to MMEC from an architecture firm in Ithaca, N.Y.

Engineering

Ricardo Munoz has been hired as an electrical project engineer by Trindera Engineering, an electrical and control systems engineering and consulting firm. Munoz is a recent graduate of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.

Health

Jeremy Kokkonen has been named medical director for Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest. Kokkonen, an osteopathic physician, has particular interest in strokes and spinal cord injuries and is involved with the American Osteopathic Association, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Melanie Bergman, Liz Grosen and Susannah Mourton have joined Providence Medical Group as gynecologic oncology doctors. All three come to Providence from Cancer Care Northwest. The three will see patients in Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center’s Women Center.

Dana Calhoun has been named Cancer Care Northwest’s chief financial officer. Calhoun has 35 years of accounting and finance experience in physician-owned medical practices, integrated hospital systems and nonprofit organizations.

M. Cristy Smith has joined the Providence Heart Institute as director of heart transplant and mechanical circulatory support. Smith has worked in Arizona and in Bellingham. While in Arizona, she spent 10 years at the University of Arizona, including three as the director of transplant, mechanical circulatory support and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Medication Review Inc. has named Steve Bagdon its new chief operations officer. Bagdon has experience in operations for both health care and non-health care fields. Medication Review Inc. coordinates telehealth services, provides remote medication entry and electronic supervision of pharmacy technicians.

Pullman Regional Hospital has announced seven new providers. They are: Cindy Anderson, Shiquan Liu and Mark Winkler, all hired in hospitalist services; Mary Chiu, Stacey Clark and Patrick Klempel, all hired in the emergency department; and Maricarmen Shields, who will work in Palouse Pediatrics.

Honors

Monica Graybeal, a pharmacist at Unify Community Health, has been named Preceptor of the Year by the Washington State University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The award recognizes a WSU pharmacy preceptor for contributions to future educational development by demonstrating high standards of professionalism, ethics and clinical practice. Graybeal, a 2008 graduate of WSU, was recognized in 2017 with the Excellence in Innovation Award from the Washington State Pharmacy Association.

Insurance

Ally Lust of Dan Hoffman Insurance Agency recently earned the Certified Customer Service Representative designation from the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research. Lust attended classroom sessions and passed five tests covering personal insurance, risk management and agency operations to earn the designation.

Law

Lindsay Kornegay, Sawyer Margett and Nathan Orlando have been hired at Witherspoon Kelley as associate attorneys. Kornegay will focus on business, corporate, banking and finance matters. Margett recently clerked at the Court of Appeals for the State of Alaska, will focus on litigation, and labor and employment issues. Both Kornegay and Margett will work in the Spokane office. Orlando, a recent graduate of University of Idaho College of Law, will work on litigation and health care from the firm’s Coeur d’Alene office.

Miscellaneous

Ryan Cooney and Logan Webbenhurst have been hired at Spokane Youth Sports Association, or SYSA. Cooney will support fundraising, marketing and manage community partnerships and sponsors as community relations director. Cooney is also the head assistant basketball coach at Whitworth University. Webbenhurst has been hired as bingo manager and will manage the day-to-day operations at SYSA Bingo. He comes to SYSA from the Centennial Hotel.