Class Notes

1960s

Gene Davis ’63 just finished a two-year term as District President of the Big Sandy Kentucky Retired Teachers Association.

1990s

Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) has named Tim Hatfield ’92 the new community chief executive officer (CCEO) for the Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center in Prestonsburg, Ky. Twenty-one of his 23 years in healthcare have been spent in administrative positions with ARH. Most recently, Hatfield served as the CCEO for the Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center in South Williamson, Ky. In addition to Tug Valley ARH, he has also served as CCEO of Morgan County ARH Hospital and interim CEO for the former Man ARH Hospital. He also previously served as Assistant Vice President for Pikeville Medical Center. For the past 14 years, he has been the lead with physician recruitment efforts for the ARH system. Hatfield and his wife, Joni, have two children, Haley, (15) and Carson (11).

Andrea Humphries ’97 was hired as the new assistant principal at Betsy Layne Elementary School in Kentucky. She has spent most of her 21 years as an educator in a high school English classroom where she taught all levels of English. Humphries says she is so thankful for the opportunity to work with the students and families of the Betsy Layne community. She and her husband Jason live in Pikeville with their 12-yearold sons, Cooper, Corbin and Cole.

2000s

Carrie Hamilton Lepore ’06 has joined Coldwell Banker McMahan, a regional real estate company serving Kentucky and Southern Indiana, in Georgetown, Ky.

Philip Leipprandt Jr., D.O., KYCOM ’07 was recently named Pikeville Medical Center’s (PMC) new chief of staff to the Board of Directors. He joined PMC in 2013 to its Gastroenterology Physician Practice. He will continue to practice medicine as he assists the board in overseeing the operations of PMC. Leipprandt completed his internship in internal medicine at Sun Coast Hospital in Largo, Fla. He completed his residency and fellowship in internal medicine at Largo Medical Center. He says it is his goal to provide fair, effective and reliable leadership. He specializes in capsule endoscopy, a procedure that uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of the digestive tract, as opposed to the more invasive traditional endoscopy. He treats a wide variety of gastrointestinal diseases. Leipprandt resides in Pikeville with his wife Tabatha, a Pikeville native.

Jeremy Ratliff ’09 and Kristin Leah Bowens were married on October 17 at Sandals Emerald Bay Resort located on the Great Exuma Island of the Bahamas. Kristin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communication sciences and disorders from Radford University in 2009 and earned a Master of Occupational Therapy degree in 2011. Kristin works as an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR) at Appalachian Regional Healthcare. Jeremy graduated from Pikeville College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree in communication. He is a Senior Dealer Success Consultant for AutoTrader & Cox Automotive. The couple resides in South Williamson, Ky.

2010s

Gregory Harris, D.O., KYCOM ’10 currently serves as the chair of the Bureau of Emerging Leaders and the New Physician in Practice Member of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Board of Trustees. He is an AOA board-certified osteopathic internist, hematologist and oncologist at the Harbin Clinic in Rome, Ga. Outside of the AOA, he is an active member of the osteopathic medical profession. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Michigan Osteopathic Association and the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology. He completed his residency training and his fellowship in hematology/ oncology at Michigan State University Genesys Regional Medical Center, where he served as chief resident and chief fellow. During his tenure at Genesys Regional Medical Center, Dr. Harris conducted several research studies.

Natalie Adams, D.O., KYCOM ’11 has completed a one-year family practice residency at The Methodist Hospital, Henderson, Ky., and a four-year obstetrics and gynecology residency at Riverside Regional Medical Center, Newport News, Va., where she received the Champion of Caring Award. Most recently, Adams has practiced obstetrics/gynecology at Pikeville Medical Center and served as an obstetrics/gynecology lecturer at UPIKE-KYCOM. Adams is currently practicing as an obstetrician/gynecologist at Highpoint Health and Highpoint Health Physician Partners in southeastern Indiana.

Aaron Lawrence, D.O., KYCOM ’11 completed his residency in emergency medicine at Central Michigan University in Saginaw, Mich., and has now joined Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith, Ark., as an emergency room physician.

Robert Monty Cline II, D.O.,’12 KYCOM ’16 completed his residency at Pikeville Medical Center’s (PMC) Family Medicine Residency Program and has joined PMC as a hospitalist. Cline and his wife have three children. They enjoy spending time as a family, working on their new home and gardening. In his spare time, he enjoys his long-time hobby of building computers and computer coding. He says working at PMC allows him to have a hand in developing the area for his children and to give back to a community that has always been in his heart.

Former UPIKE bowler Astrid Valiente Viñas ’13 won a bronze medal for the Dominican Republic in the Pan American Games. Viñas graduated from UPIKE with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and is married to Fidel Marchena ’12, who also graduated from UPIKE with a Bachelor of Business Administrations with an emphasis in accounting.

William A. Davis II, D.O., KYCOM ’13 completed his residency in family medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Davis completed his sports medicine fellowship at the University of Louisville and is an active member of the American Osteopathic Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Society of Sports Medicine. He has recently joined Baptist Health Medical Group as a Sports Medicine physician in its New Albany-based orthopedics practice. Although Dr. Davis specializes in sports medicine, he places a particular emphasis on concussion treatment, something new to healthcare in southern Indiana and a true benefit to student-athletes in the area.

Alice Higdon Wilham, D.O., KYCOM ’13 is a member of the American Osteopathic Association, American College of Surgeons, the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. She currently practices at Mercy Health – Paducah General Surgery in Paducah, Ky. She performed Lourdes Hospital’s first robotics general surgery case at the end of 2018. She has since performed more than 30 robotic general surgeries, from cholecystectomies to hernia repairs.

Amber Moss, D.O., KYCOM ’15 joined the Sedgwick County Health Center medical staff in Julesburg, Colo. She is board certified and completed her residency at the University of Wyoming. She was a junior faculty of obstetrics/gynecology prior to moving to Julesburg. Dr. Moss and her husband have three children and together they enjoy hiking, biking and traveling.

Kerry Bellew, D.O., KYCOM ’16 completed his family medicine residency at Doctor’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He has now joined the growing group of family medicine providers at Adena Chillicothe Family Physicians in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Kerry Gusler, D.O., KYCOM ’16 joined Hardin Memorial Health (HMH) Medical Group’s Hodgenville Family Medicine team. As a Hodgenville native, he completed a residency program at Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Ky. Prior to medical school, he earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Louisville. He says it is a privilege to join the HMH Medical Groupʼs Hodgenville Family Medicine team and help care for friends and family in his hometown. He and his wife have four children and 10 grandchildren. In addition to spending time with his family, he enjoys working on a family farm.

Jesse James Coleman ’16 complied with all requirements for the Commonwealth Kentucky State Board of Accountancy as a Certified Public Accountant in July. He currently works at Collins and Slone CPA accounting firm in Pikeville.

Lauren E. Strady, D.O., KYCOM ’16 has joined the University of Maryland Shore Medical Group in Baltimore, Md. She completed her residency in general pediatrics at Michigan State University Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich., earlier this year. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians.

Tamara Yacobucci, D.O., KYCOM ’16 has joined Highland Health Providers in Hillsboro, Ohio, as a pediatrician. She completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Akron in Akron, Ohio. Yacobucci loves to travel, read, craft, bake and spend quality time with her husband Nick and her family and friends.

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We want to hear the latest on your business ventures, career moves, honors, awards and family news. Email your news, along with a high-resolution photo, to alumni@upike.edu.

Submit by April 2020, for the Spring/Summer 2020 issue of UPIKE Magazine.

Baby Bears

Amber Davis ’11 and her husband Randy Davis ’96 were married in June 2010. They recently welcomed their newest addition, daughter Camree Fayth Davis, on October 18. Ambers teaches kindergarten and Randy teaches middle school studies at Dorton Elementary School in Dorton, Ky., where the couple resides with their three other children Cali (6), Caroline (5) and Carrigan (2).

Amanda Fields ’05 and her wife, Sabrina, welcomed their baby girl, Emma Shayne Fields, on July 7. Fields graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication, a minor in religion and also played softball all four years. She currently works as a Marine Logistics Planner for Eastman Chemical Co. in Kingsport, Tenn., where the couple resides with their two other children, Bryson (12) and Trinity (18).