Dennis Seid, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo
5 min read
Apr. 10----Martha Swindle has been promoted to community relations specialist in the West Region for the Tennessee Valley Authority, reporting to Gabe Franceschi.
She previously served as management assistant in the West Region. In her new role, Martha will serve as a key TVA contact for civic leaders in West Tennessee while she supports community outreach opportunities for the region.
Before joining TVA in 2011, Swindle assisted in setting up small businesses in the Renasant Center for IDEAs.
—James P. Brown, a representative of Modern Woodmen of America in Tupelo, has been named to Modern Woodmen's President's Council.
This distinction recognizes Brown's high achievement in the sales of financial products to meet families' protection, savings and retirement needs. Brown ranks among the organization's representatives nationwide.
Founded in 1883, Modern Woodmen of America is a fraternal financial services organization offering financial products and fraternal member benefits to individuals and families throughout the United States.
—North Mississippi Medical Center recently presented the DAISY Award to Madison Mitchell, RN, a charge nurse on 3 Central.
Mitchell was caring for a patient who was recovering from COVID-19. The patient's husband had passed away a few days prior. "The patient shared with Madison that her husband nicknamed her 'Blue' as a term of endearment because he would give her a blue silk rose every time he picked her up for a date," a coworker wrote in her nomination. "Madison was so touched by the story that she gifted this patient with a vase of blue silk roses in loving memory of her husband. Three Central is so honored to have such a kind-hearted RN like Madison."
Mitchell, who lives in Amory, graduated from Amory High School in 2016 and earned an associate degree in biology from Itawamba Community College in 2018. She completed her bachelor's degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women in 2021. Mitchell was hired at HealthWorks! in 2016 and served as a nursing intern and extern on 3 Central before joining the staff full-time upon graduation.
—North Mississippi Medical Center recently presented DAISY Awards to Jeremy Murphree and Larrah Wilbanks and a BEE Award to Jennifer Ray, all of 3 Central.
The trio was nominated by a friend of a former patient on 3 Central, the Pulmonary Stepdown Unit. The patient spent more than a month at NMMC before passing away at Sanctuary Hospice House. "It was so incredible that folks from NMMC were so compassionate and generous with their time that they would visit a former patient," the friend wrote. "The crew appeared promptly at 2:00, bearing gifts. I had assumed they were stopping by on their way into work but I was mistaken. All three of them came by on their off days, impressing me even more."
Murphree, who lives in Houston, is a registered nurse who joined the 3 Central staff in 2021 after completing a nursing externship and internship on the unit. After 15 years in the furniture industry and doing construction work, he completed an associate degree in nursing from Itawamba Community College in 2021.
Wilbanks is a charge nurse who joined the NMMC staff in 2018. A graduate of Saltillo High School, she earned her associate degree in nursing from ICC in 2018 and a bachelor's degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women in 2020. She now resides in Pontotoc.
Ray is a certified nursing assistant, unit coordinator and monitor technician. She lives in the Palmetto community and graduated from Pontotoc High School in 1985. After working as a private sitter for many years, she trained to become a certified nursing assistant at ICC and joined the NMMC staff in 2002.
—Orthopaedic surgeon Stephen Southworth, MD, of Orthopaedic Institute of North Mississippi recently provided valuable volunteer experience to the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Dr. Southworth served as an ABOS Oral Examiner. Dr. Southworth and several other leading surgeons from across the country collaborated to evaluate candidates hoping to obtain ABOS Board Certification.
To achieve Board Certification from the ABOS, Dr. Southworth first successfully completed a five-year residency program in orthopaedic surgery which was accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and then passed the rigorous ABOS Part I Examination, a comprehensive computer-based examination encompassing all facets of the field of orthopaedic surgery.
Following that examination, Dr. Southworth's clinical competence was evaluated through a credentialing process and the ABOS Part II Oral Examination. After providing ABOS with a Case List of all surgeries performed over a six-month period, experienced surgeons selected 12 of these cases to comprise Dr. Southworth's Part II Oral Examination. Specific skills that are evaluated during that examination include data gathering and interpretive skills, diagnostic skills, treatment expertise, technical skills, patient outcomes, and applied orthopaedic and medical knowledge.
After passing both the written and oral examinations, Dr. Southworth achieved ABOS Board Certification in Orthopaedic Surgery and is now considered a Diplomate of the ABOS. In order to maintain ABOS Board Certification, a Diplomate must pass a recertification examination, receive positive reviews from peers in their practice area, have a selected period of surgical cases evaluated, and participate in continuing medical education.
—Pinnacle Wealth, a newly formed registered investment adviser, and Argent Financial Group, a leading independent fiduciary wealth management firm, have formed a strategic partnership to deliver fiduciary-based wealth management and trust services to individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits and philanthropic organizations.
With this relationship, Pinnacle Wealth's clients will continue to be served by the existing Pinnacle Wealth professional staff. In addition, those clients will have access to Argent Financial Group's vast network of experts and broad range of wealth management services, including trusts and estate planning, investment management, ESOPs, retirement plan administration and consulting, funeral and cemetery trusts, charitable organization administration, oil and gas (mineral) management and other unique financial services.
To provide continuity for trust services, Argent Trust Company, the largest independent full-service trust company in the South, may serve as trustee for certain clients of Pinnacle Wealth.
