Business Briefs | August 2016

By
August 2016 View more

Appointments:

Mike Jaensch has been elected vice president of the school board for Naperville School District 203. Jaensch, a longtime board member, replaces Suzyn Price who stepped down earlier this year. In his new role, Jaensch will meet regularly with the board president and superintendent and other administrators to plan board meeting agendas and oversee committee assignments among board members. Jaensch is an airline pilot and adjunct professor at Lewis University in Romeoville.

Megan Ptak_800pxMegan Ptak has been appointed principal of Jefferson Junior High School in Naperville School District 203 by the Board of Education. Ptak began her education career as an English and journalism teacher at East Aurora High School. She most recently served as assistant principal at Edison Middle School in Wheaton Warrenville District 200, a position she has held since 2010. In addition to nine years of administrative experience at the high school and middle school levels, Ptak has seven years’ experience teaching English and journalism. Ptak has a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education from the Drake University and she has a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and Type 75 Certification from North Central College. Ptak officially began her new role at Jefferson Junior High School on July 1, 2016. She replaces Nancy Voise who started her role as assistant superintendent for secondary education for Naperville 203 on July 1, 2016.

Andi Cooper has been named director of Healthy West Chicago. The Healthy West Chicago initiative was started two years ago by West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda to combat the high obesity rate in the city’s schools. Cooper, who previously was a landscape architect, will focus her efforts on implementing the new Healthy West Chicago action plan.

DMG_HenryTobie_headshot copy_800pxDuPage Medical Group (DMG), the largest independent, multi-specialty physician group in the Chicago area, announced the recent addition of Chief Development Officer Henry Tobie to its administrative leadership team. Tobie joins DMG with nearly 15 years of diverse experience in the healthcare industry. In his new role, Tobie will provide strategic oversight in the areas of business development, physician recruitment and hospital partnership integration. Recently, DMG’s footprint has expanded farther into Cook, DuPage and Will Counties, underscoring the company’s commitment to serving and meeting patients’ needs in their communities, when and where they need it most. Prior to joining DMG, Tobie held business development leadership positions with ATI Physical Therapy in Bolingbrook, where he managed and grew the company’s sales force and spearheaded initiatives with its executive team. Tobie also has previous experience in the pharmaceutical industry, receiving multiple recognitions and acknowledgments for his sales and relationship-building performance. He received a Bachelor of Science from Florida International University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Kathleen Gorski has been named to the position of assistant dean for Outcomes Assessment at Waubonsee Community College. The position was effective July 11. Gorski served as director of assessment at National Louis University in Chicago since July 2012. In this role, she managed training and support of faculty in planning, implementing and using assessment data to improve student learning. Gorski has a Doctor of Education in Administration and Leadership from Argosy University, a Master of Education in Education Organization and Leadership from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor of Art in Communications from Valparaiso University.

Naperville resident Phil Johnson, former president, CFO and COO of Incapital LLC, has been named CEO of Oak Brook-based wealth management firm Sentinus. Sentinus announced that its current CEO, Scott Reynolds, will become executive chairman. Johnson has two decades of experience in the financial services industry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Viterbo University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a CPA (inactive), and holds many securities industry licenses. Johnson is also a member of the Executive Club of Chicago.

Katie Bennett was appointed as the new principal at Clow Elementary School in Indian Prairie School District 204. Bennett started her new position July 1. For the past three years, Bennett has served as the student services coordinator at Welch Elementary School. According to the District’s website, Bennett began her career as a classroom teacher in District 204 and later worked as a student services coordinator and interventionist at Graham and Kendall Elementary Schools. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Monmouth College and her Master’s degree from Concordia University.

Sarah Nowak, the current principal at Clow Elementary, will be leading Welch Elementary School in Indian Prairie School District starting July 1. Nowak has been principal at Clow for the past five years. Prior to serving as principal, she worked as a teacher at Scullen Middle School, dean of students at Heritage Grove Middle School in Plainfield, and assistant principal at Crone Middle School. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and her Master’s degree from Aurora University.

Edward Hospital_800pxAwards:

Becker’s Hospital Review has named Edward Hospital to its 2016 list of the nation’s “100 Great Community Hospitals.” Edward is one of only six community hospitals in Illinois to make the list. Becker’s selected hospitals for inclusion based on rankings and awards from organizations including iVantage Health Analytics, Truven Health Analytics, Healthgrades, CareChex, the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the Leapfrog Group. Becker’s, which has published a version of the Community Hospitals list annually since 2011, defines community hospitals as those with fewer than 550 beds that have minimal teaching programs. Edward has 352 beds and is a non-teaching hospital. Earlier this year, Edward was named to Truven Health Analytics’ list as one of the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals” and in late 2015, Edward was named to Truven’s list as one of the “50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals” in the U.S. In addition, Edward is a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence as designated by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and is one of only nine hospitals in the Chicago area to have achieved the designation three times or more (2005, 2010, 2014). Edward has nearly 5,800 employees, including 1,200 nurses and a medical staff of 1,100 physicians. Edward, along with Elmhurst Hospital and Linden Oaks Behavioral Health, make up Edward-Elmhurst Health, a system with annual revenues of more than $1 billion, more than 50 outpatient locations across a service area of 1.7 million residents in the west and southwest suburbs of Chicago.

Naperville divorce lawyer Don Pesce, founding attorney of the Naperville family law firm Pesce Law Group, P.C., has been recognized as a 2016 Emerging Lawyer in Illinois by Lending Lawyers. This year marks Pesce’s second straight Emerging Lawyers recognition. Leading Lawyers, a law bulleting publishing company, annually selects the top lawyers in each state. Emerging Lawyers are those attorneys who have attained a high level of professional excellence at an early stage in their career, either 40 years old or younger, or in practice for less than 10 years. Only 2 percent of lawyers in each state receive the annual Emerging Lawyers distinction. Pesce received his. B.A. from DePaul University, and went on to receive his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a court-approved mediator and Guardian ad Litem in DuPage County and he is admitted to practice law in both Illinois and Florida. Additionally, Pesce was named an Illinois Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2014–2015. Pesce is an active member of the Illinois State Bar Association and DuPage County Bar Association. He is also a fellow of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.

Joseph Mirabella and John Kincaid, senior partners in the Wheaton-based law firm of Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC, are the recipients of the 2016 Ralph Gabric Award on behalf of the DuPage County Bar Association (DCBA). Both attorney’s were honored at the DCBA’s Annual President’s Ball and Installation Dinner held at Medinah Country Club in June. The Ralph Gabric Award is one of the highest honors that can be earned by a DCBA member. The award is presented on an annual basis to a member of the DCBA whose character, leadership, and legal professionalism has significantly enhanced the Association as demonstrated by the legacy of past president Ralph Gabric.