HJLR Mar/Apr 2019

44 MAR / APR 2019  I  Healthcare Journal of little rock   Healthcare Briefs of the Ozarks since April of 2012; prior to that, he was the CEO for Hospice of North Central Okla- homa for 10 years. Dr. Brian Jones has been named as national director to the NHPCO board. Jones serves as the president/CEO of the SHARE Foundation in El Dorado. The SHARE Foundation is a nonprofit operating foundation with many programs and agencies, including Life Touch Hospice. Jones holds a doctorate in health sciences from A.T. Still University. He has worked in the field of hos- pice and palliative care for more than 15 years, authoring several peer reviewed journal articles. He has spoken around the country on end-of-life care issues. He previously served as vice presi- dent, regulatory chair, and education chair for the Kentucky Association of Hospice and Pallia- tive Care, and on the executive committee of the National Council of Hospice and Palliative Pro- fessionals. Jones began his career in hospice as a staff chaplain. He also teaches part-time in the public health department at Southern Arkansas University and in the Doctor of Behavioral Health Program at Freed-Hardeman University. He cur- rently serves on the Arkansas Governor’s Coun- cil on Aging. A third Arkansas-related appointment to the 2019 NHPCO board is Carla Davis, CEO of Heart of Hospice, which owns hospices in Helena and Fort Smith, as well as Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.  Heart of Hospice is based in Charles- ton, South Carolina. Lisa Vaden, executive director of Hospice & Palliative Care Association of Arkansas (HPCAA), said, “It’s a tremendous honor not only for HPCAA, but the State of Arkansas to be so well represented on the national level in the field of hospice and palliative care.” All appointments were effective January 1, 2019 and are for a term of three years. Dr. Bertrand Fonji Joins Baptist Health Surgical and Specialty Clinic-Conway General surgeon Dr. Bertrand Fonji has joined Baptist Health Surgical and Specialty Clinic-Con- way on the campus of Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway. Fonji, who has spent eight years in medicine, studied at SUNY Downstate Medical School in New York and completed a residency at Orlando Health in Florida. He is board-certified in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery. Prior to joining Baptist Health, Fonji practiced at three hospitals in the Orlando area, including Orlando Health, and additionally practiced at Baptist Health in Corbin, Kentucky. He specializes in robotic surgery, minimally inva- sive surgery, colorectal surgery, upper and lower endoscopy, vagus nerve stimulator implantation, and thyroid and parathyroid surgery. UAMSMyeloma Center Social WorkManager Harold Dean to Lead National Association The Association of Social Work Boards recently elected Harold Dean, LCSW, OSW-C, clinical social work program manager for the Myeloma Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), as president-elect of the asso- ciation’s board of directors. Dean will serve as president-elect for one year, followed by a two-year term as president, and a fourth year as past present. Dean was elected at the association’s 2018 annual meeting of dele- gates in November. Dean served as a director at large on the asso- ciation’s board of directors from 2016 through 2018 and on the 2016–2017 Mobility Task Force. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1979, and including members from the United States and Canada, provides support and services to the social work regulatory community to improve practices. “The Association of Social Work Boards is a wonderful organization dedicated to advancing safe, competent, and ethical social work practice to strengthen public protection,” Dean said. “I am very excited that my new role will allow me to be involved in the mission of public protection on both a national and international level.” “He has been a valuable member of the ASWB board over the last two years as a director,” said Mary Jo Monahan, CEO. “I look forward to work- ing with Harold in his new role on the board.” Dean has worked in oncology social work for more than 26 years. He received oncology social work certification (OSW-C) in 2005. He has also worked as a field liaison for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Social Work for the last 18 years. He received an undergraduate degree in soci- ology from Jacksonville State University in Jack- sonville, Alabama, and a Master of Social Work degree from UALR. Dean was appointed to the Arkansas Social Work Licensing Board in 2013 and served as chair from 2014–2017. Dean is a member of the Association of Oncol- ogy Social Work and a volunteer with the Ameri- can Cancer Society and the Leukemia and Lym- phoma Society. Since 2010, he has served as co-facilitator for the Little Rock Blood Cancer Greg Wood, MS, LSW Carla Davis Harold Dean, LCSW, OSW-C