The Board Room for Aug. 24 | The Fresno Bee

Achievements

▪ Sonia Smalley, loan manager at the Tucoemas Whitendale branch in Visalia, graduated from Western CUNA Management School. The three-year course included completion of two complex projects.

▪ Keith Swinger and Latishia Sharer, a Fresno Wells Fargo home mortgage team, earned the top 10 percent award in the nation for June 2015.

Announcements

▪ The Wilderness Medical Society conferred on John Higginbotham, a volunteer with the China Peak Ski Patrol and Fresno County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, the title of Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine for having achieved a demanding set of requirements validating training and experience in wilderness medicine/emergency outdoor care for the public at large.

▪ Six Fresno criminal defense solo practitioners have been named to the Thomson Reuters Northern California Super Lawyers® list. They are: Richard P. Berman, Katherine L. Hart, E. Marshall Hodgkins, James P. Lambe, Roger K. Litman and David R. Mugridge. Super Lawyers is an annual listing of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of professional achievement and peer recognition.

Awards

▪ Central California Legal Services Inc. (CCLS) announced that Chris A. Schneider, the organization’s executive director, will receive the Loren Miller Legal Services Award presented each year by the State Bar of California. Also, the homeless litigation team, made up of attorneys from the law firm of Arnold and Porter LLP, will receive one of the California State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards. CCLS nominated the team for its pro bono work in filing more than 30 individual lawsuits against the city of Fresno for destroying the personal property of homeless individuals during the closure of homeless camps in 2011.

New Faces

▪ Tucoemas Federal Credit Union added three to its staff. Sherry Belcher joined the team as chief financial officer with 20 years of management and financial experience. She will be responsible for budget management and financial compliance. Julie Wheeler joined the Tucoemas management team as the Porterville branch manager. Along with managing the branch in Porterville, she will assist Tucoemas members with their lending and savings needs. Saeed Goraya returns to Tucoemas and joins the administration team. He is taking on a new role as the social media administrator and will be responsible for the website and all social media platforms.

▪ Edward Hirsch is Kaweah Delta Health Care District’s vice president, chief medical and quality officer. He completed his medical degree at Rush Medical College in Chicago and is responsible for medical staff affairs, graduate medical education, performance improvement and patient relations.

▪ Leslie Botos joined Central California Blood Center as the new director of community relations and development. She will work with the blood center in its mission to provide a safe, reliable blood supply for Central California’s five-county area and the 30 Valley hospitals served.

▪ Dalia Bedair joined Family HealthCare Network’s Terra Bella Health Center as a dentist offering comprehensive dental care for both children and adults. She completed her doctorate in dental medicine at the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health and also holds a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

▪ Sabrina Hamilton is a new family nurse practitioner at Family HealthCare Network’s Goshen Health Center. She received her Master of Science in nursing from the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Samuel Merritt University, where she also completed a Bachelor of Science in nursing.

▪ Drs. Evelyn Gomez and Michelle Keeter, both former Hanford Family Practice Residency physicians, are caring for patients at Adventist Health/Community Care clinics. Gomez, a board-certified family medicine physician, completed residency training at Loma Linda University and in Hanford. She is caring for patients at Community Care – Home Garden, and will begin caring for patients at Community Care – Hanford Primary in the fall. Keeter joined Community Care – Hanford Primary and Lemoore. The family medicine physician earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from University of California, Davis, then attended Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

New Locations

▪ Dinuba Therapy Specialists opened a clinic for physical, occupational and speech therapy. The clinic, at 355 Monte Vista Drive, has four patient rooms. The clinic is open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 7:30-11:30 a.m. Fridays. Dinuba Therapy Specialists is a division of Kaweah Delta Health Care District.

Promotions

▪ Christine Miktarian was promoted as associate vice chancellor, business and operations for State Center Community College District.