Prairie People

Paul Wilson named president and CEO of Noridian Healthcare Solutions

FARGO, N.D. – Noridian Healthcare Solutions has named Paul Wilson as president and CEO of the company.

Wilson had served as interim president/CEO of NHS following former president and CEO Tom McGraw’s departure in June 2017. His position was made permanent effective Nov. 13.

Wilson’s health care leadership career began with Banner Health Systems, previously known as Lutheran Health Systems, where he served as CEO of Los Alamos Medical Center in Los Alamos, N.M., from 1987 to 2000. He also held CEO positions at Innovis Health, now known as Essentia Health, from 2001 to 2005, and at DMS Health Technologies from 2006 to 2014.

In 2014, Wilson accepted a position as president of Fergus Falls, Minn.-based Lake Region Healthcare, where he served until joining NHS in 2016 as senior vice president and chief administrative officer.

Wilson holds a master’s degree in hospital administration from the University of Minnesota.

Boyer hired by Starion as manager and vice president

FARGO, N.D. – Starion Bank has hired Tom Boyer as mortgage banking manager and vice president.

Based in Fargo, Boyer manages teams of mortgage lenders in Fargo and Bismarck, N.D., and Madison, Wis.

Boyer has managed mortgage lending departments and originated mortgages in Fargo since 1990. He earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Minnesota State University – Moorhead and is involved in FM Raise Your Spirits, an organization that assists the community and celebrates volunteerism.

Boyer is also a retired volunteer firefighter and former board member and treasurer of FM Athletics.

Kevin

Pederson earns

Professional Engineering License

BISMARCK, N.D. – Kevin Pederson, an engineer at KLJ, earned his professional engineering license in North Dakota.

Pederson earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University. He is also registered in the state of Minnesota.

Pederson works in KLJ’s Fargo office.

Ulteig Names Jeremy Alinder vice president of finance

FARGO, N.D. – Jeremy Alinder has been appointed vice president of finance at Ulteig, a provider of design engineering, program management and technical and field services.

After a brief transition period, Alinder will become the company’s chief financial officer.

Alinder served most recently as CFO for U.S. operations for Fluence Corp. Before that, Alinder held leadership positions in multiple organizations, including Hillcrest Capital Partners and Pentair.

He also served as an independent consultant, helping large construction and agriculture companies with growth plans and acquisition strategies.

Alinder has bachelor’s degrees in both accounting and finance from the University of St. Thomas, as well as an MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He is a certified public accountant (inactive).

Killefer named dean of SDSU’s College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences

BROOKINGS, S.D. – John Killefer, professor and department head of animal and rangeland sciences at Oregon State University, has been named dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences at South Dakota State University.

Killefer has served in his current role since 2012. During that time, he merged the departments of animal sciences and rangeland, ecology and management to form the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences. He also completed construction on three facilities and numerous renovations to other facilities.

His research focusing on high-quality production animals and meat products programs has secured more than $6.3 million from both federal and industry sources.

Killefer was inducted into the Oregon Beef Council Hall of Fame in 2014.

Killefer went to OSU in 2011 after nearly 10 years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was an associate professor and later professor. He was an assistant professor and associate professor at West Virginia from 19942002.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences at Hastings College in Nebraska. He earned his Ph.D. in animal science with an emphasis in growth and development at Oregon State.

Killefer will begin his duties in March.

North Dakota physicians appointed to national workgroup

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Dr. David Schmitz, professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been appointed the American Academy of Family Physicians’ representative to the National Quality Forum MAP (Measure Applications Partnership) Rural Health Workgroup.

Similarly, Dr. Aaron Garman, a UND medical school graduate, family physician and the medical director at Coal Country Community Health Center in Beulah, N.D., has been named co-chair of the NQF workgroup.

Founded in 1999, the National Quality Forum is a nonprofit group that works to catalyze improvements in health care. NQF measures and standards serve as a foundation for initiatives to enhance health care value, make patient care safer and achieve better outcomes.

The federal government, states and privatesector organizations use NQF-endorsed measures to evaluate performance and share information with patients and their families.

The MAP Rural Health Workgroup provides recommendations on issues related to measurement challenges in the rural population. Additionally, the workgroup works to identify a core set of the best available measures and identify rural-relevant gaps in the measurement of health outcomes.

Josh Hinds joins Houston Engineering

FARGO, N.D. – Josh Hinds has joined Houston Engineering Inc’s Fargo office as a senior traffic engineer.

Hinds will be leading traffic engineering services for all HEI locations. He brings more than 11 years of transportation and traffic experience in the industry and has served multiple agencies, including the North Dakota Department of Transportation, the South Dakota Department of Transportation, cities, counties and various other local entities.

Hinds holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from South Dakota State University, a master’s in civil engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from North Dakota State University.

He has worked as a project manager on many transportation and traffic engineering projects throughout North Dakota and South Dakota and is a registered professional engineer in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa.

New providers join Sanford Health

FARGO, N.D. – Two providers recently joined the Sanford Health Fargo team.

WEST FARGO, N.D. – Tracy Eslinger, Luke Arnold and Dustin Scott graduated from the American Council of Engineering Companies of North Dakota Emerging Leadership Institute.

Eslinger is a senior project manager in the municipal group at Moore Engineering’s West Fargo office, where he’s worked since 2001. He is a licensed professional engineer in North Dakota and Arizona.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers and the North Dakota Society of Professional Engineers.

Arnold is a senior project engineer and the municipal group leader for Moore Engineering’s Bismarck, N.D., and Minot, N.D., offices. He’s been with the company since 2012, in addition to 20 years of engineering experience in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Arnold earned his bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. He’s a registered professional engineer in North Dakota and Wisconsin and is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the North Dakota Society of Professional Engineers.

Scott is a senior project manager at Moore Engineering’s West Fargo office, where he’s worked since 2007. He is a licensed professional engineer in North Dakota and Minnesota, and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of North Dakota.

Scott serves as the city engineer for the city of West Fargo and is a member of ACEC/ND, the American Society of Professional Engineers and the American Public Works Association.

Ethan Brenna received his master’s degree from Arcadia University in Glenside, Penn. He specializes in genetics counseling at Sanford Broadway Clinic.

Dr. Harry Weiser received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, Ky. He specializes in neurosurgery at Sanford Neuroscience Clinic and is board certified in neurosurgery by the American Board of Neurological Surgery.