Greg Blair has been promoted to vice president of sales and marketing/general manager of Northwest Arkansas at Harrison Energy Partners.
Blair joined the company in 1999 as a salesman and has held several management positions in the sales department during his tenure. He’s served as vice president of sales and marketing since 2018.
The Northwest Arkansas office in Springdale employs nearly 60 people serving clients through new HVAC equipment sales, service and controls.
Catherine Flannigan has joined the oncology and hematology care team at Baptist Health Cancer Center-Fort Smith. In her new position, Flannigan joins Dr. Varant Arzoumanian; Kayla Moury, PA-C; and Maria Sanchez, APRN, in providing comprehensive care for patients receiving cancer and blood disorder treatments at Baptist Health Cancer Center-Fort Smith.
Flannigan earned a master of science in nursing from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, and a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Texas at Tyler in Tyler, Texas. With a background in trauma and transplant surgery, she brings clinical experience to her new role. A native of Texas, Flannigan most recently cared for renal transplant and dialysis patients at a clinic in Alaska.
Dr. Brent Ryals recently joined Washington Regional’s Emergency Department, where he specializes in treating patients with acute illnesses and injuries. Ryals has 14 years of experience in emergency medicine and previously cared for patients in Washington Regional’s Emergency Department from 2017-20.
A Little Rock native, Ryals earned his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where he also completed an internship and residency in emergency medicine. He most recently served as medical director of emergency medicine for CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, CHI St. Vincent North in Sherwood and CHI St. Vincent, Morrilton.
Dr. Cole Wood was recently named medical director of Washington Regional’s Infection Prevention and Control Department and director of the hospital’s antimicrobial stewardship program.
Antimicrobial stewardship refers to a hospital’s processes to ensure the safe and appropriate use of antibiotics to improve patient outcomes while reducing antibiotic resistance. Washington Regional was the first hospital in Arkansas to achieve designation as an Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence and remains the only hospital in the state that has received four consecutive such designations. Wood will also provide infectious disease consultation services at Washington Regional Medical Center.
A native of Jonesboro, Wood earned his medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious diseases. Wood most recently served as an infectious disease physician and director of antimicrobial stewardship at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Wood succeeds Dr. James “Buddy” Newton, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Briefs are for people in Northwest Arkansas who are new hires, were promoted, received an award from outside their organization or received a certification. Email: cswindle@nwaonline.com. Information must be received by noon Wednesday prior to the Sunday the item is to be published.
