Small Street Journal: July 7, 2017

HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals announced that Patty Allen has joined the two hospitals as chief financial officer. Allen has more than 20 years of experience in Catholic healthcare in areas of strategic and operational financial management. She most recently served as division controller and vice president of finance at HSHS St. John’s Hospital in central Illinois. Allen has also served as chief financial advisor to the hospital division of Columbia-St. Mary’s, a health ministry of Ascension Health in southeastern Wisconsin and vice president of business development and analytics at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Allen holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration, magna cum laude, from Monmouth College in Illinois. Dave Nelson, who has served as CFO for both hospitals since January 2013, is retiring.

Northwestern Bank recently hired Cindy Boggess as its marketing and customer relations representative. Boggess has more than 12 years of experience working within financial services, with the last five having lead the marketing department of a bank based in Eau Claire. Boggess graduated from UW–River Falls with a degree in marketing communications and is currently enrolled at the Chippewa Valley Technical College for digital marketing.  She additionally has earned a bank marketing degree from the American Institute of Banking and attended a year of the American Bankers Association ‐ School of Marketing and Management.  

The UW Health clinics in Eau Claire in Augusta made the official transition to become Prevea Health. The UW Health Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic, located at 617 W. Clairemont Ave., is now Prevea Health Family Medicine; and the UW Health Augusta Family Medicine Clinic, located at 207 W. Lincoln St., is now Prevea Augusta Health Center. The transition of both UW Health clinics to Prevea Health stems from a collaborative effort, announced Jan. 31, 2017, between Prevea, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin to keep the Eau Claire Family Medicine Residency Program in Western Wisconsin.

Kevin Miller has been named the first executive director of the Confluence Arts Center in Eau Claire. Miller, who has been the executive director of the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts in Fond du Lac since 2007 and led that organization through a facility renovation and expansion in 2012-13, was selected by the Confluence Council Inc. following a national search. He will start his new position July 17. As Confluence Arts Center executive director, Miller will provide leadership, create vision, foster an environment for learning, and carry out strategic planning and programing. He will manage the administrative staff, lead fundraising efforts, establish relationships within the local and regional communities, and ensure the highest levels of excellence in the delivery of outstanding audience and artist experience.

Ayres Associates elected its seven-member board of directors this month, including four outside members and three from within the engineering and architecture consulting firm. The board oversees company operations and sets broad policies, while day-to-day corporate management is delegated to the firm's executive committee, vice presidents, and managers of operations. The board’s large representation of outside directors maintains fresh and broad viewpoints from outside the organization, helping Ayres Associates to remain competitive and ethical in its operations. Members elected to the Board include: Norman Keller, retired Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin executive.; Karl Murch, retired executive in the construction, manufacturing, engineering, and retail industries; Dr. William Rupp, retired CEO of Mayo Clinic operations in Jacksonville, Fla., and Eau Claire; Tami Satre, who retired from Junior Achievement and is active in several Eau Claire civic and philanthropic organizations; Thomas Pulse, chairman and president of Ayres Associates and an active community member in the Eau Claire area; Jan Zander, executive vice president at Ayres Associates and an active community member in the Eau Claire area; and Richard Satterlee, an Ayres Associates business development specialist and active community member in the Green Bay area.

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Mayo Clinic Health System recently announced a new agreement that will increase opportunities for research collaboration between the two institutions, create new avenues of learning for UW-Eau Claire students and make way for projects that will lead to improved health and wellness in the community. A new master collaborative research agreement will enable researchers at the two institutions to work together on projects. UW-Eau Claire and Mayo Clinic Health System will be better able to help prepare the next generation of scientists, innovators, and health care providers and leaders, officials said during a press conference at Mayo Clinic Health System’s Eau Claire campus. While the new master collaborative agreement offers many new opportunities for UW-Eau Claire and Mayo Clinic Health Systems to work together, both organizations also will continue to nurture existing partnerships and look for additional opportunities to work with entities in the Chippewa Valley and beyond.

Blugold Radio announced two new programs coming to their “Sunday Brunch” which airs Sundays between 8 a.m. and noon on Blugold Radio 99.9 FM and at BlugoldRadio.org. The first program is called “The Sounds of Eau Claire” which will air at 10:30 am. For this program local musicians, educators, and promotors are interviewed about both the history of music made in the region and how people have worked together to cultivate a truly unique musical community. The second program is “The Sue Orfield Show” which will air at 11 a.m. This show features guest musicians from the Chippewa Valley and Upper Midwest. The show is recorded in front of a live studio audience. Originally airing in video form this show will be on the radio due to an ongoing partnership between Blugold Radio and Chippewa Valley Community Television