Limelights and Career Paths

RECOGNITION

The Ohio Association of Realtors board recently awarded Darlene Mink-Crouse of the Warren Area Board of Realtors the Ohio Realtors 2018 Distinguished Service Award.

The award recognizes long-standing members who have demonstrated an uncommon commitment to the goals and purposes of the association at all levels. To be eligible for the award, individuals must have been active association members for 25 years.

Mink-Crouse has been a licensed Realtor since 1975 and is now serving as the Warren Area Board’s president for the third time.

She has been a real-estate instructor for the Warren Area Board at many events; has been active in the state association for more than 40 years; and recently was awarded the National Association of Realtors Emeritus Award for 40 years of service, among other accomplishments.

Ohio Living Home Health & Hospice of Greater Youngstown recently named Michelle Gongaware employee of the year.

Gongaware, who serves as business development liaison, was nominated by her peers and selected by an award committee.

The award honors recipients who model the organization’s core values of care, customer service, integrity, innovation, financial stewardship and leadership.

“Ohio Living would not be the same without her; she is simply irreplaceable,” said Sarah Hadley, executive director. “In her 12 years with us she has seen lots of changes and faced many challenges, but always remained steadfast. I can honestly say that Michelle inspires me to be better every day.”

Mercy Health recently announced it won the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s Davies Award of Excellence for its work in improving opioid prescribing practices.

The award recognizes organizations that use health information technology to improve patient outcomes and value.

Mercy Health used its electronic medical records to design tools and protocols to ensure compliance with current legislation and improve prescribing practices, the organization said.

“Mercy Health has successfully leveraged analytics tools and decision support to make it easy for providers to select the correct pain management approaches and reduce opioid prescriptions,” said Jonathan French, senior director of quality and patient safety initiatives at HIMSS. “In addition, Mercy has utilized a variety of technology solutions to reduce gaps in care for their outpatient services, while also enhancing revenue through improved clinical documentation in their inpatient facilities. For this, HIMSS is proud to recognize Mercy Health as a 2018 Davies Enterprise Award winner.”

As part of the recent District 13 annual meeting, the Ohio State Bar Association recognized two area attorneys for 50 years of service to the legal profession.

Rush E. Elliot of Canfield was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1968. He worked as the assistant Ohio Attorney General assigned to the workers’ compensation section. He has been in private practice since 1970.

Elliott is a trustee of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers and the original chairman of the Social Security Law Section.

Carl D. Rafoth of Canfield was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1968.

His special areas of practice include bankruptcy, real-estate, corporate law, commercial law, and probate and estate planning. He is a 20-year Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee.

He is also a member of numerous legal associations and an adjunct instructor at Youngstown State University and Kent State University.

CAREER PATHS

The Western Reserve Transit Authority board recently selected Dean J. Harris as WRTA executive director following a national search.

Harris was selected from a pool of 27 applicants.

He previously served as director of finance and assistant secretary-treasurer for the METRO Regional Transit Authority of Akron from 1997 to 2017. He joined Akron METRO in 1989.

Most recently, he worked as a senior financial specialist for the Ohio Transit Risk Pool.

He will begin serving as WRTA executive director Oct. 17.

Youngstown-based Sherman Creative Promotions Inc. recently announced the hiring of Stephanie Shapiro as a managing partner.

Shapiro previously was an independent distributor for Halo Branded Solutions.

Brittany Mendez, previously of the Youngstown Business Incubator, recently joined the team as operations manager.