The Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center has tapped Kenny Turpen to serve as its director of development and Maranda Wilkinson to act as its director of education.
Turpen brings more than 10 years of development and fundraising experience to the role. He’ll be responsible for managing the Heritage Center’s three annual fundraising events and overseeing its donor development efforts, including the campaign to design and build a new Space Medal of Honor exhibit.
Before joining the Heritage Center, Turpen served as the director of development for Southern Adventist University, where he managed the university’s annual fundraising and planned giving efforts while helping to complete its recent $50 million capital campaign.
With nearly 15 years of education and curriculum experience, Wilkinson will be responsible for overseeing and growing the Heritage Center’s ongoing educational initiatives.
Wilkinson joined the Heritage Center after working for the Korean War Legacy Foundation, where she managed the foundation’s oral history library and teacher fellowship program.
Before working with the Korean War Legacy Foundation, Wilkinson served in a variety of curriculum development and education roles in Franklin County.
Parkridge East names chief nursing officer
Lori Feltner is the new chief nursing officer at Parkridge East Hospital. Feltner brings 20 years of health care experience and 14 years of nursing leadership to the position. She’ll be responsible for leading the nursing strategy for the 128-bed hospital.
Feltner has served as the assistant chief nursing officer for Parkridge Medical Center since 2019. Before that, she served as vice president of nursing operations for the HCA Healthcare TriStar Division.
Feltner earned a master’s degree in nursing and a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Phoenix. She earned a degree in nursing from Eastern Kentucky University.
She is involved in many professional organizations, including the American Organization of Nursing Executives and American College of Health Executives.
Neurosurgeon Ghiassi joins CHI Memorial
CHI Memorial and CHI Memorial Medical Group have added Dr. Mayshan Ghiassi to the CHI Memorial Stroke and Neuroscience Center.
Ghiassi earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he also served as neurosurgery chief resident. In addition, Ghiassi completed an endovascular fellowship at Vanderbilt.
He is a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery.
Ghiassi provides care in the treatment of conditions of the brain and spine, with special interest in cerebrovascular surgery, skull base neurosurgery and spinal reconstruction.
He’s a native of Nashville and has practiced in Arkansas, Kentucky and Florida.
The CHI Memorial Stroke and Neuroscience Center is located at 725 Glenwood Drive in Chattanooga. Call 423 206-9480 to schedule an appointment.
TASA honors Erlanger flight paramedic
The Tennessee Ambulance Service Association recognized flight paramedic Jim Fox during the 2023 state conference held in Gatlinburg.
Fox received TASA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his 41 years of service treating some of the region’s toughest cases, the organization says in a news release.
Fox began his career in 1982 as an EMT in Florida and launched his career as a flight paramedic with Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Florida in 1985.
In 1988, Fox moved to Chattanooga to join Erlanger as one of the original flight crew members for LIFE FORCE. He’s logged more than 3,000 transports from his days as a ground EMT, paramedic and flight paramedic.
Over the past three decades, Fox has taught life-saving skills to thousands of first responders, either in a formal classroom setting or on the job. He now serves as the business development director for LIFE FORCE.
“I’m proud of Jim and all of his accomplishments over his 41-year career,” says Robbie Tester, vice president of patient logistics at Erlanger. “And I thank him for continuing to demonstrate and set the standard for others to follow.”