Eight outstanding health care professionals will be honored as awardees at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon on Friday, April 26 at the Frontenac Hilton. The reception will begin at 11 a.m. and the program will start at noon.
Catrina Chambers, Ph.D. is an asthma disparities consultant for the St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium focusing on health promotion and disease prevention.
The Sacramento, Calif. native is turning her attention to tobacco prevention when she begins a fellowship in July in California.
Chambers earned a doctorate in public policy with a concentration on health policy from Saint Louis University, a master’s of science in public health from Meharry Medical College and an undergraduate degree at Fisk University.
Her community commitments include the Grace Hill Head Start Policy Council and the American Lung Association. She serves on the boards of the Urban League Young Professionals of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis Professionals for Healthcare Quality.
Marsha Fisher, MD is an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mercy Clinic Women’s Health–Ladue. Pregnancy, women’s health issues, fetal monitoring and surgical care have been a part of her practice for the last 17 years. She is also a clinical instructor to Mercy Hospital St. Louis ob-gyn residents.
Fisher earned her medical degree at University of Missouri-Columbia. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University, where she served as chief resident and where she previously earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics.
Fisher is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the National Certificate Corporation in Electronic Fetal Monitoring. She is a fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and is a member of several professional organizations, including Mound City Medical Forum, National Medical Association, St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society and the St. Louis Gynecological Society.
Kenya Haney, BSN, RN is a cardiac service line manager for Barnes-Jewish St. Peter’s Hospital and Progress West Health Care Center in St. Charles County.
She is a former director of the Breakthrough to Nursing initiative at the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA), which aims to recruit and retain nurses of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds. She also is a former NSNA president and active with the Missouri Nurses Association.
The St. Louis native graduated from Parkway West High School. She earned an associate’s degree in nursing at St. Louis Community College and a bachelor of science in nursing from University of Missouri–St. Louis. Haney recently completed a master of science in nursing and health systems management from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and was accepted into the University of Virginia’s doctorate of Nursing Practice program.
Charisse Jackson served as vice president of education and diversity education at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. She provided cultural competency training to sexuality education to employees and volunteers.
Jackson has worked in the area of diversity and cultural competence for many years, previously serving as program director of the National Conference for Community and Justice, as a multicultural awareness educator at Crossroads School and as a visiting instructor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.
Jackson, a Macon, Ga. native, earned a degree in medical technology from Meharry Medical College in Nashville and a bachelor of science in biology and chemistry from Spelman College in Atlanta.
Her awards and honors include the Albert Soto Award for Excellence in Diversity by Planned Parenthood, the NCCJ Glen Polin Award, the Black Pride Shirley Chisholm Ally Award and the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis.
Marc A. McNeese, RN is a disaster preparation and event manager at Saint Louis University Hospital. As a patient-driven problem solver, this nurse is also an inventor of patented medical devices that improve efficiency and effectiveness in the operating room.
McNeese has worked the health care field in various supervisory and leadership capacities over the last 37 years. He says the manner in which quality care is delivered is critical to patient satisfaction. McNeese holds several licenses and certificates in Missouri and Illinois for emergency and advanced life support training and as an operating room technician.
He earned a bachelors degree in Business Administration from Saint Louis University and an associates degree in Applied Science Nursing from Kaskaskia College.
Jovita Oruwari, MD FACS is a breast oncologist at Mercy Clinic, St. Louis Cancer & Breast Institute with specialties in breast surgery and general surgery. She often speaks to members of the community in churches and schools about breast health.
“I want to give the kind of care to my patients that I would want given to my family,” she says. “I hope my patients see not only the doctor but a human being with compassion and empathy.”
Oruwari graduated from medical school from the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, N.J. and completed a fellowship program at Hasbro Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.
She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Association of Breast Surgeons and Mound City Medical Forum. She also serves on the board of the St. Louis Crisis Nursery.
Candace T. Wakefield, DMD is a pediatric dentist at the Children’s Dental Zone in Florissant. In addition to her kid-friendly practice, Wakefield has a separate dental practice for adults, the W Dental Group.
The St. Louis native and Riverview Gardens High School graduate is a board-certified children’s dental specialist. Wakefield graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia and earned her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. After dental school, Wakefield completed her residency at Howard University, where she served as chief resident in Pediatric Dentistry and received her Specialty Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry.
Wakefield is a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Dental Association, the Missouri Dental Association as well as the Greater St. Louis Dental Society. She also is a faculty member of Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.
Judy Wilson-Griffin, MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM is a perinatal nurse specialist in the labor and delivery unit at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center and an adjunct instructor for the Saint Louis University School of Nursing. She also serves as a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve Nurse Corp.
Wilson-Griffin earned an associate’s degree in nursing from St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and a bachelor of science in nursing as well as a masters of science in nursing at Saint Louis University.
She is active in community health efforts, working with churches to perform screenings for diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension and HIV. She serves in the health ministry at Christ Southern Mission Baptist Church and guest lectures in middle and high schools about sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy and teen development.
She is a board member of the maternal Child and Family Health Coalition and previously served on the board of RESPOND, a child advocacy and recruitment agency for adoptive and foster care families.
Tickets for the 13th Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon at the Frontenac Hilton are $75 each or $750 per table for VIP seating; and $50 each or $500 per table for individual seating. To order tickets, call 314-533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com.
