The Launch Pad welcomes new executive director and more Chattanooga-area career moves

 Contributed Photo by The Launch Pad/ Shelley Armstrong
  

The Launch Pad welcomes new executive director

The Launch Pad, a 12-step based sober living home for women on Chattanooga’s Southside, has named Shelley Armstrong as its new executive director, according to a news release. Armstrong is a graduate of Mercer University and joins The Launch Pad after a well-rounded background in nonprofit fundraising and management. Over the past 32 years, Armstrong served as director of income and later, senior regional director at the American Heart Association in Chattanooga.

Armstrong then became director of special events and major gifts at the Chattanooga Food Bank, where she exceeded fiscal year goals by nearly 150%, according to the release.

Erika Puzanov joins CHI Memorial Infectious Disease Associates

CHI Memorial Medical Group announces Erika Puzanov has joined CHI Memorial Infectious Disease Associates. Puzanov earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City and a master’s degree in nursing, family and acute care nurse practitioner, from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, according to a news release.

She has 12 years of experience caring for patients in the emergency department and intensive care unit settings. At CHI Memorial Infectious Disease Associates, Puzanov will provide primary care services to patients with HIV.

Puzanov joins Dr. Mark Anderson, Dr. Paul Cornea and Dr. Hal Hill at CHI Memorial Infectious Disease Associates.

Erlanger Health System receives Orthopedic Center of Excellence designation

Erlanger Health System announces receipt of the Orthopedic Center of Excellence Designation from DNV. This designation affirms an organization’s excellence in the provision of diagnostic services, surgical services, and therapies related to orthopedic care, according to a news release.

“This earned designation is a testament to the dedication and expertise of the Erlanger Orthopaedics team,” said Dr. Mark G. Freeman, medical director for Erlanger Orthopaedic Institute in the release. “This landmark achievement is absolutely a system-wide team effort, but specific mention of Lisa Fitzsimmons and Chris Werner is warranted for their tireless leadership to obtain this designation especially given the complexity of providing elective care during the pandemic.”

The DNV Orthopedic Center of Excellence designation is obtained by achieving advanced certification in at least three advanced orthopedic programs. The DNV advanced orthopedic requirements are informed by the guidelines and recommendations of organizations such as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, the ERAS Society, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and relevant requirements of the CMS Conditions of Participation for Hospitals, the release stated.

Nurse practitioner Leslie Casteel joins CHI Family Practice in Cleveland

CHI Memorial Medical Group announced in a news release that Leslie Casteel has joined CHI Memorial Family Practice Associates in Cleveland.

Casteel earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and a master’s degree in nursing from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale. She has more than 20 years’ experience caring for patients in hospital and primary care clinic settings.

Casteel joins Sabrina Stover at CHI Memorial Family Practice Associates in Cleveland.

Friends of the Festival names three new board members

Friends of the Festival is adding three members to their growing board of directors. Cara Alday, Martha Attaway and Kyle Bianco are joining the board as the organization prepares for its 40th anniversary in June, according to a news release.

Alday has been an attendee and supporter of Riverbend since its inception and served as board chair in 2002 and 2003. She is an attorney with Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway where she focuses on commercial transactions and litigation, the release stated.

Attaway returns to the board after serving in the early and formative years of the festival where she served as vice chair of finance and director of development working on the implementation of pin sales. She has represented Dunlap’s textile trim products in the apparel, furniture, medical, leather goods, sporting goods and marine industries, according to the release.

Bianco is an operations business planning manager for TVA. He was born and raised in Chattanooga, and Riverbend has always been a favorite summer activity, the release stated. He is a current member of the Erlanger Foundation’s Corporate Connect Board Committee and a former member of the Baylor School Alumni Board.

“We’re honored to have Cara and Martha return to our board and excited to welcome Kyle as a first-time member,” Friends of the Festival Board Chair Becky Browder said in the release. “The Friends of the Festival board has uniquely positioned the organization for future success as we enter our fourth decade. We appreciate the skillsets each of these board members bring to the table and look forward to their leadership for Chattanooga’s original music festival.”

— Compiled by Brandi Dixon

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