State employee news

Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath and Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Cheryl Liedle were among those recently named by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to the Concealed Weapon Advisory Council. The will serve on the board as law enforcement representatives.

John Ilgenfritz of Helena was recently named by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to the Community Service Commission, where he will serve as a representative of disaster and emergency services.

Sue Tinsley of Helena was recently named by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to the Community Service Commission, where she will serve as a representative of K-12 education.

Kim Kradolfer, attorney supervisor with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Office of Legal Affairs, will retire from state government July 31. She began working for the state Attorney General's Office in 1987 and moved to DPHHS three years ago, where she has specialized in legal issues related to quality assurance and child welfare.

Wilda McGraw, who worked in various capacities for DPHHS for almost two decades, has retired. For the past seven years, she was a child health nurse consultant for the Family and Community Health Bureau. She worked on programs to prevent premature births, address asthma in children, and reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. She was also the state coordinator of the Fetal, Infant, Child Mortality Review (FICMR) program, which seeks ways to reduce preventable deaths among children.

John LaRue has been named coordinator of the DPHHS Antimicrobial Resistance Program. He has 10 years of clinical experience in hospitals in Michigan and Montana as an emergency room technician, phlebotomist and phlebotomy coordinator. He has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Alma College in Michigan and recently was certified by Carroll College as a secondary education teacher with endorsements in chemistry and biology.

Susan Cummings has been hired as coordinator of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and epidemiologist for the Health Planning Section of DPHHS. She has bachelor's degrees in geology and nursing and more than 18 years of combined experience in epidemiology, health-related data collection and statistical analysis, evaluation and quality improvement.

Denise Higgins has been named laboratory manager for DPHHS. Previously, she was a laboratory preparedness coordinator for the department. She has several years of experience supervising laboratories in hospital and physician's office settings. She also has been a program specialist in the Family and Community Health Bureau.

Mary Runkel has accepted the position of supervisor of the Children's Special Health Service Section of DPHHS. She came to the department from St. Peter's Hospital, where she was the director of care management and quality for the past four years. She also has worked in case management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, as a pediatric staff nurse, and as a claims manager for worker's compensation.

Ann Hagen-Buss is the new manager of the Maternal Child Health Data Monitoring Section. She previously worked in the DPHHS Early Childhood Services Bureau as a program specialist for the Child and Adult Care Food Program. She also has worked as the director of a nonprofit organization in Great Falls and an independent contractor with the Office of Public Instruction. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology/education and is enrolled in the Master's in Public Administration program at the University of Montana.

Cami Zufelt is the new data coordinator in the Maternal Child Health Data Monitoring Section. She is responsible for managing data received by the section and for helping develop the performance measure responses for federal Maternal Child Health Block Grant reporting. She recently earned a bachelor's degree in health care informatics at Montana School of Technology and completed an internship with DPHHS.

Venus (Rae) Brown has been hired as a nurse consultant for home visiting and perinatal substance abuse prevention. She comes to DPHHS from Seattle, where she worked with pregnant women as a home visitor and community health nurse. She has a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Washington.

Julie Chafee has been hired as a child health nurse consultant to the Fetal Infant and Child Mortality Review program, as well as for other child health issues, including school health. She has been a school nurse with the Helena School District, most recently at CR Anderson Middle School. She has a bachelor's degree in nursing from Montana State University.

Two DPHHS employees in Helena were recognized recently for their outstanding work in the child welfare field. Kim Aiken, a fiscal manager, received the Creative Solutions Award for her creative problem-solving and resource allocation. The Above and Beyond Award was presented to Allison Fredrickson, an administrative support staffer, for her performance above and beyond the call of duty and commitment to teamwork.

Kristine Thatcher has been named the new field operations bureau chief of the state Motor Vehicle Division. She was serving as the regional manager at the MVD office in Great Falls. She joined the MVD as a driver license examiner in 1991.

Thatcher replaces Anita Drews-Oppedahl, who retired in March.