Chamber of Commerce offers Association Health Insurance Plan

The Danville-Boyle County Chamber has rolled out a health insurance plan to benefit smaller businesses. Chamber Executive Director Paula Fowler said, “With the huge increases caused by the Affordable Care Act and Health Care Reform our small business members have been searching for relief. Effective September 1st, we have delivered.” 

The plan focuses on businesses with between 2-99 employees and offers fully insured plans. There will be more than 16 plan designs that utilize the largest provider network in the state.  The plans will be affordable by grouping small businesses together, creating a large pool of people, taking advantage of critical mass, and offering cheaper rates.

 If you have an interest in getting quotes or to get more information, contact John Funkhouser at jfunkhouser@johnsonpohlmann.com  or at (859) 236-5922. Fowler said, “The quoting process is very simple and free. It should save our businesses money.”

Ephraim McDowell Health invests in new CT technology

 Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center and Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital have taken their diagnostic services to the next level. Both hospitals now offer the latest in low-dose CT scans that adapts to the patient’s size and condition to provide an unparalleled combination of maximum image quality at a minimum radiation dose. The Siemens Definition AS 64 CT sets the standard for diagnostic imaging in the region.

“Today’s CT technology has long answered the question of how fast we can perform a CT scan. The new focus is on how we can lower the radiation dose to the patient. Siemens is at the very front of the list when it comes to manufacturers that can deliver the highest quality of CT scans and can accomplish that task by using the lowest radiation dose in the industry,” says Doug Ruggles, director of Diagnostic Services for Ephraim McDowell Health. 

Additional benefits of this new technology is that it differentiates between an adult patient and a child, lowering the dose of radiation even lower for a child. Many similar devices make patients feel claustrophobic because of the limited size, but this 64-slice scanner can accommodate patients weighing more than 650 pounds.

 “Having this technology at both Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center and Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital has allowed our organization to standardize our CT technology and scanning protocols. This provides consistency in our ability to deliver the highest quality CT scans each and every time,” Ruggles added. 

 Appointments can be made by calling (859) 239-1282 or (606) 365-4756.

Duvall joins Heart of Danville

The Heart of Danville welcomes a new face. Dustin Duvall joins the Heart as the office manager and replaces current Marketing Manager John Wyatt.

“We are beyond excited to welcome Dustin to the Heart of Danville,” says Executive Director Nick Wade. “Dustin brings a unique set of skills and a personal touch that will help continue the Heart’s mission of creating a vibrant and prosperous downtown.”

Dustin went to school at Campbellsville University and earned a degree in educational ministries. He then served as youth minister for the East Frankfort Baptist Church and the Harrodsburg Christian Church. Dustin moved from Harrodsburg to Danville three years ago and is eager to serve the Danville community.

“I’m looking forward to helping continue Danville’s traditions and maybe creating some new ones,” says Dustin. “Downtown is a wonderful place for businesses and people, and I hope that I can continue to make it a special place within the community.”

Dustin is married to Brittany Duvall, who works as the Box Office Assistant at Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts. They have two kids, Sawyer, 6, and Harper, 3. In his spare time, you can find Dustin serving at Southland church or chasing after his kids.

Danville native leads newly acquired BNI affiliate

BOONE NEWSPAPERS

News release

Danville native Baker Ellis, publisher of the LaGrange Daily News in Georgia has also been named publisher of The Valley Times-News, a daily newspaper serving Lanett Valley, Alabama, and West Point, Georgia.

The newspaper was acquired Oct. 1 by Valley Newsmedia LLC, an affiliate of Boone Newspapers Inc., of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Advocate-Messenger is also an affiliate of BNI.

Ellis is a 2010 graduate of Boyle County High School and a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. His parents, Dr. Brian and Laurie Ellis, reside in Danville.

Ellis worked previously for The Shelby County Reporter, a community newspaper serving a highly developed county of multiple municipalities south of Birmingham. He began as a sportswriter for the Reporter before quickly moving into the sports editor role and additional management duties before being named publisher in LaGrange.

Valley Newsmedia purchased the operating assets and real estate of The Valley Times-News from Valley Newspapers Inc., and its owner, Nell Dunn Walls.  

In addition to Georgia, Kentucky and Alabama, BNI manages newspapers in similar sized communities in Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

LG&E and KU, EKPC help boost power grid resilience

Utilities are among 28 to join equipment sharing program

 LG&E, KU

News release

LOUISVILLE – To help restore electric service to communities after catastrophic emergencies or significant natural events, 28 utilities – including Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company (LG&E and KU) and East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) – have now committed to participate in the RESTORE program, which establishes a proactive approach to providing critical equipment for utilities that need additional resources during disaster recovery. The program establishes a binding agreement between participating utilities.

 The national importance of a strategic transformer reserve has been highlighted by the Department of Energy’s Strategic Transformer Reserve Report to Congress earlier this year. Newly formed at the time of that DOE Report, the RESTORE program is now a fully functional collaborative effort that takes advantage of regional cooperation and is consistent with DOE’s recommendation supporting voluntary industry-based options to address the reserve.

 RESTORE, or Regional Equipment Sharing for Transmission Outage Restoration, was founded in 2016 by LG&E and KU, PPL Electric Utilities, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Southern Company to identify and share spare transformers and other transmission equipment, which will then be available for purchase by other participants in the event of a major disaster within their service area.

 “Utility cooperation and the ability to call on additional resources play a critical role during times of natural disasters and other emergencies that can impact our electric transmission system,” said John Lucas, Chair of RESTORE’s Operating Committee and Southern Company General Manager of Transmission Policy and Services. “Launching the RESTORE program, coupled with existing industry programs and each utility’s internal resources, further strengthens total grid resiliency for the region and electricity customers.”  

 “Establishing these types of relationships and being able to call on more than 20 neighboring utilities at a moment’s notice will mean a more efficient response and expedited recovery when experiencing these types of emergencies,” said LG&E and KU Vice President of Transmission Tom Jessee.

 “This agreement provides flexibility to ensure the participating utilities have access to the resources we need to restore power in emergency situations,” said Denver York, EKPC’s Senior Vice President of Power Delivery and System Operations.

 The program has now expanded to include 20 additional participating utilities: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois, Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois, American Transmission Company LLC, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., six Duke Energy utilities, Duquesne Light Company, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Entergy Corporation, Florida Power and Light Company, ITC Midwest, ITC Transmission, METC, Santee Cooper, and South Carolina Electric & Gas Company.   

 RESTORE is designed to enhance the resilience and reliability of the power grid and provide additional sources for utilities seeking critical equipment during disaster recovery and does not replace existing programs or agreements already in place. The RESTORE agreement is now in place among all participating utilities, except a few that must first obtain state approval to execute the agreement.