Local Briefs: Ankerson promoted; hospital position created; potholes can’t hide

Pullman High grad named executive vice chancellor at University of Nebraska

Katherine Ankerson, a Pullman High School and Washington State University graduate, has been named the next executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ankerman has been UNL’s dean of the College of Architecture since 2016 and prior was an associate dean and professor at the university.

Ankerson graduated from Pullman High School in 1974 and was involved in the National Honors Society. She then went on to Washington State University where she received a bachelors of architecture, a bachelors of science in architectural studies and a masters in architecture. Ankerson was also the president of the American Institute of Architecture Students while at Washington State.

Ankerson’s first day was Jan. 18 for the beginning of the school’s spring semester. She was named the International Interior Design Associtaion’s 2020 Educator of the Year. Ankerson advocated for interdisciplinary and cross disciplinary engagement, the value of design and making, as well as embracing new technology.

Pullman Regional Hospital names new chief reliability officer

The Pullman Regional Hospital has named Carrie Coen its new chief reliability officer. Coen has worked as the director of rehabilitation services at Summit Therapy and Health Services of Pullman since 2008.

Coen is a member of the Health Student Professionals Advisory Board at Washington State University and a senior consultant for the Speech Sounds Visualized app. Coen received a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate degree in physical therapy from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The chief reliability officer is a new position created at PRH to maintain a commitment to align and integrate systems of safety, clinical practice, quality and risk management. Coen will work to maintain and grow the hospital’s reliability, which is measured by patient satisfaction scores, low medication errors, alarm fatigue, workplace exposures and injuries.

Kerri Jones, meanwhile, has been hired as the director of Summit Therapy and Health Services. Jones has worked at Pullman Regional Hospital since 2007.

City of Pullman wants its residents to report potholes

The city of Pullman is encouraging residents to report new and developing potholes, according to a news release from the city Friday.

Residents can report pothole issues by calling (509) 338-3243 or by sending an email through the “contact us” form on the Pullman Maintenance and Operations section of the city’s website atpullman-wa.gov/.

“As maintenance crews have continued to address snow and ice control activity, repairing potholes has been added to their list of tasks to focus on,” reads the city’s news release. “Morning, day, and night shift crews are all working to repair potholes. Crews have begun in the areas with the highest volume of traffic, and will branch out to lower priority streets as issues are identified.”

Pullman Regional Hospital Foundation reschedules gala

The Pullman Regional Hospital Foundation has rescheduled its annual gala for May 14 because of the high prevalence of COVID-19 in Whitman County. The gala was originally scheduled for Feb. 5.

For more information or to order tickets, visit pullmanregional.org/gala.