2025 Heroes in Healthcare

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2025

ADMINISTRATION:

Gretchen Britt, Liberty Hospital
Information technology and IT administration, Gretchen Britt drolly confesses, “was not on my bingo card when I went to nursing school.” And that makes all the more interesting the story of her journey to Liberty Hospital, where she’s vice president for IT, safeguarding processes for a billion-dollar enterprise. That story starts in Geneseo, Ill., and Knoxville, Iowa, growing up, then high school in Cameron. Even before she had that diploma locked down, she’d earned her Certified Nursing Assistant credential, after she had “discovered the love of taking care of others,” Britt says. Fresh from graduation, she started at Cameron Regional Medical Center and set a course to earn her RN degree from William Jewell. She sandwiched a nearly five-year stint with Chicago-based software specialist Allscripts with stints at Children’s Mercy and Liberty where she’s on her third posting—first as an NICU nurse, then birthing center supervisor, and since 2022, in the IT role. “I was always curious, asking questions about process, requesting changes in the EMR and getting involved at any chance I could to make our workflows better,” she says of the career transition. “As we introduced the EMR, we introduced a large amount of clicks, duplications of documentation and inefficiencies. I wanted to make it better” and she “stumbled” into the role when it came open. It’s a deadly serious mission as is putting hands on a patient. “Taking a zero trust approach to technology and risk is key,” Britt says. “Operate under the principle of never trust, and always verify. Taking part in phishing training and other training opportunities is not only beneficial to the organization, but beneficial to protecting yourself in your personal life.”

Robert Kenagy, Stormont Vail Health
Robert Kenagy is preparing to wrap up a career in health-care, retiring in May as president and CEO of Stormont Vail Health, the fourth-largest hospital in the Kansas City region. It’s a role unlike any other system leader in these parts. Shawnee County, where it’s based, isn’t part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area. Instead, the health system serves Topeka and much of rural northeast Kansas. Excluding Douglas County, the five other counties bordering its main market have only about 70,000 residents—that’s close to a rounding error compared to the metro region’s 2.2 million. So, his system fills a unique health-care role in the state. “With the SVH culture and commitment to providing safe and effective care close to home,” Kenagy says, “the people living in these communities can receive great care near home and have access to the tertiary care delivered here in Topeka, all seamlessly provided.” Kenagy has been at the helm since 2019, groomed for the leadership after making the move back to Kansas from hospitals in Oklahoma three years earlier. Before that, the Wichita native spent 22 years in family practice. His inclination toward a medical career, he says, started with family. “I idolized two maternal uncles who were internal medicine doctors in Kansas City,” he says, but during med-school rotations, family medicine resonated. “I loved the relationships over time; at times I had 4 generations of a family in my practice,” he says. More than two decades into that track, he felt the pull to administration. “It was an evolution, starting with clinic leadership and ending with health system leadership,” he says, a track that took him to Tulsa as a senior vice president at St. John Health Network, then to his hometown Via Christi Clinic as president and CEO, and senior vice president of physician services at Via Christi Health.

Doug Rivard, Children’s Mercy Kansas City
Graduating from high school at 16, Doug Rivard made his career call early. Perhaps a bit too early: Though this St. Louis native did secure his chemical engineering degree as planned, the work was missing … something. “I was doing fine, with a good job,” he says, “but I didn’t feel very satisfied or fulfilled.” But he knew enough to see the parallels between engineering and the problem-solving aspects of medicine, so he went to medical school and settled on pediatrics, specializing in radiology. Like engineering, being a doctor requires the ability to solve problems and understand moving parts. “The human body; there’s no more refined machine ever invented,” he says. “All the intricacies, all the complex interaction between organs, the physical part of it really is an engineering problem.” He earned his medical degree at A.T. Still University in Kirksville and came to Kansas City after his residency. About that time, he and his wife had twins born prematurely, piquing his interest in radiology, and a career he has parlayed into the role of executive vice president and physician-in-chief. Administration, he says, was never a destination. “Some people have a career path lined out; that’s not me,” Rivard says. “You intersect with people or situations that expose you in a way, and one thing I enjoyed about Children’s Mercy was the ample opportunity to do lots of things.” After building the largest pediatric radiology department in the country, he’s moved up the ranks but is “still learning every day,” Rivard says. Working in an acute-care setting is hard; working in a pediatric venue can be even tougher emotionally. “But being there for the patients, being able to walk with them on their journey is a real privilege,” he says. “You just gut it out.” He’s even seen cases where physicians or nurses ask to be excused from a case because they have a child that same age at home. “It does take a toll, but we’re very supportive of each other. It gets back to the privilege of treating a child and the family at what might be their worst point. It’s the opposite side of delivering a baby, but the same sense of being able to help that drives all of us.”

AUXILIARY STAFF:

Tiffany Crabtree, Overland Park Regional Medical Center
Work in a hospital setting is a study in psychological contrasts: Some patients are just starting a journey of hope and promise—and some will fall asleep for the last time. But even in the birthing centers, it’s not always sunshine and roses. Just ask Tiffany Crabtree, a perinatal social worker at OPRMC. “The challenges people face can range from perinatal mood disturbance, such as anxiety or depression, to homelessness, to substance dependency, to having a significantly premature baby, or a baby with a genetic condition which may not be compatible with life,” she says. “In other words, the challenges are as many and as complex as one could imagine.” In that setting, she tries to view things from a patient’s perspective. “That does not mean I know what others are going through, but it helps me listen to the information they are processing, or the situation they are going through with their baby, in a way that hopefully brings empathy, and from that brings a sense of caring and help,” she says. “Some people just need to be heard; some just need a friendly face checking on them and cheering them on. But, others need to process very difficult emotions and decisions, or they need a connection to much-needed resources which allow them to fully participate in their baby’s care.” A Kansas City native, she faced an early life test as a teenage participant in Alateen, the 12-step program for children of alcoholics. “The years I spent in Alateen were life-changing and helped shape who I am today by giving me much-needed tools and skills to be centered and focused,” she says. “I think ultimately it is gaining resiliency through hardship which led me to want to work with people in a helping profession.” Initial consideration of a teaching career quickly gave way to a social work track in college. “As I did some research, I just really knew that social work would be a better fit. I loved getting my social work degree,” Crabtree says. After a decade of psychiatric hospital work and then working as an independent postpartum doula, she chanced into the role at OPRMC.  An aspect of the work she prizes most is the ability to give new purpose to others’ lives. “Over the years, I’ve had a few moms I worked with in the NICU tell me that they decided to become social workers because of the impact I had on them when their baby was in the NICU,” Crabtree says. “Honestly, that is just the best thanks and acknowledgment I could ever receive. I work very hard to make sure people feel seen and heard … and getting that feedback has made me feel seen and heard, too, and lets me know that I had an impact, even if I didn’t always know it at the time.”

Randall Jarrett, The University of Kansas Hospital
Cancer touches all of us in different ways but when it visits its wrath on your father, the impact is especially wrenching. That was the case for Randall Jarrett, a courier for The University of Kansas Hospital, and his desire to make a difference in the health-care world. “The opportunity to be an integral part of patients’ care by getting their labs and blood products where they need to be when they need to be means the world to me,” he says. Born and raised in Kansas City, Kan., home to the region’s biggest hospital, he went to work there after graduating from KU, where he’d been on the Jayhawk football team. “The health system seemed like a natural place to build a career,” Jarrett says. “When the courier role opened, it was a no-brainer. My father’s fight against lung cancer gave me a first-hand look at just how important this work is, and it’s something I take very seriously.” Though he doesn’t lay healing hands on patients, his work touches uncountable lives. “When I see patients with their families in a clinic, that is what fills my cup and keeps me coming back each shift,” says Jarrett. “It reminds me who I am serving and that my work is making a difference and giving patients the chance to be OK.” The mission is the same, but no two days are exactly alike. “Every day, this line of work brings new challenges, and I enjoy finding ways to meet the needs of the moment,” Jarrett says. “Recently, I had to make hourly visits to a research center to pick up specimens while a vital piece of equipment was being repaired. This extra stop in my route lasted two days, only going away when the team’s repair had been made, but I was prepared to continue as long as needed. When it comes to the job, I just do what needs to be done.”

Scott Poague, North Kansas City Hospital
A career in supply-chain management at the highest levels—having worked for the biggest private company in Kansas and the biggest public company in Kansas City—had Scott Poague absolutely positioned for a new track at North Kansas City Hospital. His first day of work there? “April 1, 2020—April Fool’s Day,” he wryly notes, “which should have been a clue as to the tsunami to come.” As the whole world was shutting down in the face of an unprecedented viral threat and taking global supply chains down with it, the initial urge was to scramble. “At first, we were in find it/buy it/ get it mode,” Poague recalls, but with assistance from every corner of a $2.5 billion enterprise, “supply never was a reason for a stoppage or slow-down in surgeries or basic services at NKCH—this is something we are very proud of to this day.” Poague is a Nebraska native who earned a finance degree from the University of Colorado and went on to work for what is now Koch, the Wichita-based multinational, and Sprint Corp. “My personal move to health care about 12 years ago was very deliberate, and one where I decided I wanted to give back to the community that has been so generous to my family over the years,” says Poague, who moved here 24 years ago. “I thought my experience in the for-profit world in the science of supply chain from an industrial setting could be valuable if applied to a local non-profit health care system.” Still, there was a learning curve involved. “Supply chain in health care, in general, is not as advanced as it is in the commercial world and needs more talent, technical investment, and nurturing to express its full value—that is what makes the field so interesting and rewarding,” he says. 

NURSING:

Paige Baker, Lee’s Summit Medical Center
The teacher isn’t always right. Just ask Paige Baker, chief nursing officer at Lee’s Summit Medical Center. Mentally rewinding the tape on her life, she pauses during her senior year of high school in Lone Jack, where she was able to take a community college course led by a teacher who insisted that young Paige needed to become a physician. “I said ‘no, I want to be with the patients,”’ Baker recalls. “And it’s been a very good choice for me, providing very good care with all the lives I’ve been able to touch.” Right out of high school, she headed to Saint Luke’s College of Nursing, snagged her degree, then headed to Research Medical Center for 20 years, followed by more than 10 in Lee’s Summit. “I spent my 21st birthday on the night shift, taking care of patients in the crucial-care unit,” she recalls. It was an early step on a caregiving path that would eventually allow her to extend her reach as chief nursing officer. “I got into leadership because I always wanted to be looking for solutions instead of focusing on problems,” she says. “How we make things better excites me; finding solutions and helping health care become more patient-friendly and family-friendly, helping staff improve patients’ lives—not just treating the symptoms that brought them to us, but improving their lives overall.” Nursing is nursing, but that doesn’t mean every day is the same—an aspect of her work she finds invigorating. “The one thing about health care is, there are always new challenges,” Baker says. “Every day can look different—yes, there are some commonalities, but there are almost always new and exciting challenges. You have to be a life-long learner to be in health care.” Like most other nursing executives, one of those challenges is the constant need to find, onboard, and retain talented nursing staff, “so we’re always making sure we’re promoting the profession,” Baker says. 

Roy Cadiz, University Health
It’s not unusual for the children of small-town doctors to chart a path of their own in health care. What sets Roy Cadiz apart is that his work at University Health is more than 8,000 miles removed from his hometown roots in the Philippines. Nearly 20 years after making his way to Kansas City, Cadiz is more than just a fixture in the cancer treatment unit at UH—patients on recurring treatment schedules often insist on having him assigned to assist in their recovery. “I like taking care of patients, and with cancer,” he says. “I get to see them mostly after they go to treatment, and you get to see the progress they are making.” Cancer treatment is far from 100 percent effective, and Cadiz has learned to accept the inevitable disappointments. “Sometimes it’s depressing when you cannot help them anymore,” he says, but he won’t let that detract from his personal mission to be an uplifting influence. “I’m not the type of person who brings family problems to work—I come in jolly and smiling,” Cadiz says. “When I’m taking care of cancer patients, the fun part is talking about their prognosis and diagnosis, and with the doctor, introducing people to what they’ll be doing for the day and talking about the effects of the drugs.” Three decades ago, he pondered a career as a physician, influenced by his father’s place in the community. But in the Philippines, one doesn’t even get into medical school without going through basic nursing courses, and when Cadiz finished that track, he decided to stick with it. A Kansas City recruiting agency sponsored his immigration, and after landing at UH, it wasn’t long before he found and came into the cancer unit. There, he says, his work touches more than patients. “I get to form a lot of attachments with patients and their significant others,” he says, and those connections don’t always end when the patient heads home. “Even times when it’s my birthday, and they know,” he beams, “they will even come up here and bring me gifts, even if they’re not in treatment anymore.”

Liz Carlton, The University of Kansas Hospital
The nursing profession saves lives. Liz Carlton believes it saved hers, too. “I never had a dream to be a nurse,” she says. “It was a default at the moment as a means of survival, but it turned out to be the best decision.” And no, calling it life-saving isn’t going too far. “I was not a terribly strong student in high school and had a few missteps,” she says. “The nursing program resonated with me.” Nearly four decades ago, her timing was just right. Texas, where her family was living at the time, was amid a nursing shortage, prompting schools to slightly relax admissions standards. With few job options in her small town and some home nursing experience, she decided to give it a shot. “Turns out it was a good fit,” she says. “I tell new grads now that I would not qualify to go to nursing school today. I didn’t have the grades!” She earned her degree from Texas Woman’s University in Dallas, then her MSN at the University of Kansas, and has advanced through the nursing ranks to administration as vice president of quality and safety at The University of Kansas Hospital. En route, she served as a front-line nurse in surgery and critical care units, as a manager, educator, researcher, case manager, program manager, director, and more. “Each opportunity led to the next,” says Carlton, including assignments to develop new programs from scratch. “I’ve never said no to an opportunity, even if it was outside my comfort zone, current role structure, or knowledge,” she says. “Each experience taught me how to work within teams, develop programs, drive performance, negotiate and drive change. That’s probably the greatest thing about nursing. You can do just about anything if you’re willing to say yes.”

Becky Hoffman, North Kansas City Hospital
It’s one thing to address a medical crisis surrounded by trained professionals and all manner of life-saving technology in a hospital emergency room. It’s something completely different to answer that call at Smithville Lake. On the water. With an unconscious patient bigger than you. But that was Becky Hoffman’s task last year when the respite of a trip to the lake became something very different. “We were out on the boat, and my cousin noticed people calling for help, so my daughter went over, then she said, “‘Mom, there’s a guy floating in the water and he’s blue.’” The man—who stood roughly 6-foot-3—had jumped into the water in but didn’t come up, having possibly suffered a heart attack. “I hollered at my group to bring our floating island and said, ‘We’ve got to get him on this; we can’t do anything this way,’” Hoffman recalls. “I opened his airway with a jaw thrust, but he wasn’t alert or following commands.” The lake isn’t entirely convenient for first responders to reach, and over the ensuing 30 minutes, the man came to and was taken to the hospital and recovered. “When you’re in the moment, you think, ‘This is my job; this is what I do regardless of where I’m at, whether in a hospital or not,’” Hoffman says. “But … I usually don’t have to work in water.” Chalk that up as another day at the office—so to speak—for the Emergency Department supervisor at North Kansas City Hospital. Just another point on the continuum that began early in life, flowing from her commitment to “being able to help people. That’s the reason I went into nursing,” Hoffman says. “In ER, they come to us at their worst in an emergency, or at their sickest. Being able to use your critical thinking, all the things you’ve learned in years of experience, for me, that’s my passion—to help people and make things better.”

Kirk Showalter, Saint Luke’s Hospital
A chance meeting at the airport brought Kirk Showalter face to face with a man whose mother had been a Saint Luke’s Hospital patient in her final days. “He was so thankful for the care we provided,” says Showalter, who had been part of her care team. “He refused to let me load my bags on the airport bus and drove me directly to my flight. … It was a reminder to me that my ‘normal’ days at work are critical moments in patient and patient family lives.” And a powerful career affirmation for Showalter, who was born at the old Bethany Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. He was influenced toward a nursing career watching his sister, six years older, who became a pulmonary critical-care physician. “I had the opportunity to shadow her on a few occasions, and I quickly realized how much I enjoyed the hospital setting and the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives,” Showalter says. “While I admired the work physicians did, I was especially drawn to the comprehensive, hands-on care provided by ICU nurses. That experience ultimately led me to pursue nursing.” At Saint Luke’s, he’s House Supervisor, support the daily operations across the hospital. “I round on each unit to stay informed about patient flow, staffing needs, and any unresolved issues. I also make sure staff knows they can reach out to me for guidance,” he says. A significant part of his role involves responding to emergencies—code blues, rapid responses, and crisis interventions. “I also serve as a resource for staff when they have questions about hospital policies and procedures,” he says, and he also works closely with the staffing, patient placement, and transfer teams to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently. “This role aligns perfectly with my professional goals,” he says, “because it allows me to combine leadership with direct patient care. I enjoy being a point of support for both patients and staff, ensuring that high-quality care is delivered across the hospital.”

Erin Waggoner, Olathe Medical Center
Erin Waggoner earned her degree in biochemistry at K-State, then began a research career studying muscular dystrophy. “Although the work was fascinating, we called it ‘20-year science,’ meaning if we had some landmark discovery in the lab, it would take another 20 years of research to potentially help someone with the disease,” Waggoner says. “I was driven to make a more immediate impact for people living with disease NOW, which is what ultimately drew me to nursing.” And that’s how she ended up in the critical-care unit at Olathe Medical Center. From a young age, she says, she had a strong interest in science and the natural world. “I remember writing a paper as a young girl about Marie Curie and how knowledge gained from STEM can positively impact society and help people. I wanted to be a part of that.”  She’s been a go-to resource for the hospital, which leans on her varied skill set. “I have gotten involved in a broad spectrum of projects and initiatives because I ask the hard questions,” Waggoner says. “I am a fixer by nature, pragmatic to a fault, and persistent. In health care, it’s critical to speak up and advocate for efficiency so patients get the best possible care, delivered with ease.” Among her most vivid passions, she says, is end-of-life care and helping families through that process. “I will always remember one patient who made the heroic decision to be an organ donor, and honoring that wish was very important to the family.” She helped orchestrate an honor walk, where the hospital staff gathered to support the donor and family on their way to surgery. “As I was bringing the patient and family members down the hallway, we came around the corner to see probably a hundred people in our little hallway,” she says. “It took the family’s breath away, and I will never forget the sound of their gasp.” And that, she says, “is why I do what I do.”

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

Lauren Lucht, The University of Kansas Hospital
Being raised by a hard-working single mother who taught her how to care for others, Lauren Lucht says, “I knew from an early age I wanted a career where I could help others. I learned early on that helping people does not feel like work at all, it feels like an opportunity.” She’s doing that in health care, but in a field that addresses the mind more so than the body, as vice president for behavior health at The University of Kansas Hospital. After completing her undergrad work at Rockhurst University graduate, she headed to Washburn University for her graduate degree in clinical psychology. “My desire to understand human behavior and reduce suffering led me to study clinical psychology,” she says because she thought she could make a difference, one patient at a time. “I hoped for a career where I could use behavioral sciences to understand the behaviors and suffering of others.” In heeding that call, her pathway to traditional health-care settings wasn’t a typical straight line. While still at Rockhurst, she had interned with the Missouri Department of Probation and Parole, and community corrections “opened my eyes to halfway houses and gaps in social services.” A grad-school practicum at Lansing Correctional Facility yielded a familiar pull. “I saw clients who had fallen through social service gaps and ended up entwined with the criminal justice system. I knew I could make a difference serving humans who were locked away and so I stayed on after earning my degree. Here, I got to watch health care and mental-health services for incarcerated individuals grow and become evidence-based.” Lucht then came to the KU Health System hoping to broaden the application of her work. Now, she says, “I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to help our patients and our community find hope and healing.”

Ashley Snow, Research Medical Center
Years have passed since that day, but Ashley Snow still remembers what the young breast-cancer patient was wearing when they met before her chemotherapy. “That’s how vivid a memory it is,” says Snow, a pharmacy technician manager for Research Medical Center. “I shook her hand, and her mother who was there hugged me—it was the most humbling experience I’ve had in my entire life,” Snow says. “And that experience changed me. I wanted more than anything to be sure that everything was absolutely perfect for this woman, and in that moment, I realized—even though I’m not generally patient-facing—how important this work was in taking care of people.” Snow is currently preparing to transition from Research’s pharmacy operations to managing operations for all of the HCA Midwest Health sites in the region, a journey that began in her native Excelsior Springs back in high school. “I was always really active in school activities, always found myself being captain of the team, in certain aspects.” She started as a part-time retail pharmacy tech, added skills by volunteering at the hospital where her father was an IT administrator, then worked in that field at various hospitals before securing her degree in health-care administration from Colorado Christian University. She wasn’t far down the career path when she set her goal on leadership roles, and signing on with Research was a big step. There, she says, “I had the opportunity to be the leader that I had envisioned for myself. I wanted to lead pharmacy techs, and knew they had a diverse pharma setting, caring for a high-acuity patient clientele,” Snow says, including ICU, trauma-center and other niches. “Here, a little bit of everything related to pharmacy takes place.”

Scott Zweerink, University Health
Remember the scene in The Graduate where the guest of honor receives a single word of career advice—“Plastics”? That’s close to where aspiring chemical engineer Scott Zweerink was in college when a relative offered similar guidance: Pharmacy. Up until that point, “I was sure I was going to be a chemical engineer,” Zweerink says, but it took only a year on that academic track “to realize that I didn’t particularly like the engineering that went with that, and I didn’t want to be a bench chemist.” But intrigued by the suggestion and learning that the mathematics and science he loved would be big parts of the equation, he set out for UMKC’s School of Pharmacy in 1986 and never looked back. After 18 years in the for-profit world of pharmacy care, he came on board at University Health and began the trek to leadership that now has him directing the system pharmacy operations and a team of 150. In some ways, he says, it was completing a circle that began while growing up in St. Joseph, where his father was a chemistry professor at Missouri Western State University, and his mother was instilling a commitment to service in their three sons. “Parenting,” says the father of four, “is the heart of a service mindset, so the faith and family thing for me plays into that—the love of God and the love and care for other people are core values. It’s ingrained in what I do.” University Health, he says, presented something of a sea change from the mission of a retail pharmacy, given that much of its patient base falls into the categories of uninsured or under-insured. At one of the city’s biggest medical centers, his is a long client list: More than 15,000 patient admissions a year, multiples of that in out-patient visits, plus traditional pharmacy services. “I really liked the mission and vision of University Health,” Zweerink says, “of providing state-of-the-art care for people, regardless of their ability to pay.”

VOLUNTEERS:

Beverly Swegel, Providence Medical Center
Some people retire and never glance in the rear-view mirror of their careers. Beverly Swegel isn’t one of them. A long-time nurse whose various stops around the region included a stint at Providence Medical Center, she circled back there more than 15 years ago to start a new phase in her life—as a volunteer. More than 5,000 hours of service later, she’s a fixture known for her ability to organize offices, distribute patient handouts and direct them around the facility, and for stepping up with one-off duties like the Providence Car Show and the gift-wrapping station held to raise funds for the Providence Share Fund. She finds reward in the simple act of interacting with people. “I think about when I find someone wandering around, and I am able to get them to where they need to go,” she says. “They are always so thankful, and I am thankful to help them.” Her background in nursing was far from the norm: She went back to school when she was 40 to obtain her nursing degree from Kansas City Kansas Community College, but her history in health care was extensive. She served early in her career in the hospital’s women’s care unit at Providence and in private-practice settings, including office manager for Heartland Primary Care. All of that came while raising four daughters, in addition to caring for her mother, sister, and husband. Caring for others, she says, has been a lifetime passion, and volunteering now keeps her connected to the field. Swegel encourages others to find similar uses for their talents when they wrap up their working lives. “I would encourage them to come up to Providence and show them around,” she says. “Volunteering can give you a reason to get up and get out and mingle with others. It’s better for us both mentally and physically and gets you moving.” In addition to her hospital duties, she volunteers once a month in the food kitchen with her church, Christ the King Parish.

Andy Tompkins, Stormont Vail Health
Andy Tompkins certainly has the resume of an ambassador: His career in education included serving as superintendent of three school districts in Kansas, as the longest-running education commissioner in the state’s history, as a professor at KU, as interim president at Emporia State and Fort Hays State, and as president for oversight authority for those universities, the Kansas Board of Regents. But after decades of service, Tompkins still wasn’t done. He logged two terms on the Foundation Board at Stormont Vail Health, then found another outlet: greeting patients upon arrival at the medical center in Topeka. “I take them wherever they need to go and try to put them at ease—people intimidated by hospitals.” You can find him standing post most Fridays during the livable part of a Kansas weather cycle; winters like this one give him plenty of reasons to hang out in Arizona for a spell. His path to hospital duties is a familiar one for high achievers who reach the end of their paying careers. “When you retire, you’re always kind of looking,” he says. “Some people will say they’re just tired; they want to be alone to do their things. Then there are those who can’t handle retirement, who think ‘I should never have retired. I have to go back to work somewhere.’” It’s part of a work ethic he developed running cattle on the family farm in Stockton. People there, “they don’t know how to quit working,” he says. “I felt like I wanted to do something where I wasn’t obligated all the time, more of a pop-up where I could help as needed.” Why Stormont Vail? “I just picked it because I had been there often, had met the previous CEOs, and just thought it was something I could be helpful with in some way.” It is work, he believes, that has real value. “It’s an overused saying, but when you’re giving back, and you’re out there for no reason other than you want to be there to help others, it makes you feel good and adds meaning to your life.” 

Lola Wilkening, Olathe Medical Center
After a career in finance in her native Iowa, Lola Wilkening crossed the finish line of retirement and pulled up stakes for Olathe to be closer to her daughters and their families. She was retired from one career but soon had another vocation: Volunteering at Olathe Medical Center. Over the past 14 years, she’s become a fixture at the 300-bed hospital, which named her its Ambassador of the Year in 2024. “The hospital seemed like a place where I could assist people in various ways, like showing them where to go, connecting them with services, or just lending an ear while they were working through their emotions,” Wilkening says. For seven years, she was attached to the surgery family room; then, she became a receptionist when a new birthing center opened. “If the individual is an expectant mother and supposed to go to the labor floor, I offer them a wheelchair while they fill out a brief information sheet,” she says. “I then phone labor and delivery to give them notice of the patient’s arrival.” She provides assistance to expectant mothers coming in for appointments and visitors coming to check out new arrivals. “I have also delivered flowers to patients, retrieved wheelchairs for our area, and restocked cups and other supplies for the vending area behind our reception area,” she says. Her contributions don’t end there: She also works the hospital Ambassador fund-raisers, helps the treasurer calculate sales commissions, sews eyeglass cases for patients who need them, and assembles stuffed animals for the one in the pediatric unit. Still, she’s not done: she’s on the med center’s finance/budget committee and the scholarship committee and has subbed at various other reception and registration desks. “Walking into the hospital for the first time shortly after moving to Kansas was the beginning of one of the most rewarding personal experiences,” she says, and she encourages others to become a part of our group and connect with others who want to make a difference in someone’s day or a patient’s stay. “Helping others,” she says, “is a privilege and an honor, touching lives, if only for a few moments.”

LIFETIME SERVICE:

Nancy DeBasio, Research College of Nursing
More than 50 years after she left graduate school—40 of them at Research College of Nursing—Nancy DeBasio undeniably has created a legacy in nursing education. But it’s not, she will tell you, the $36 million home the college will move into next year. “I bristle a bit about that suggestion because it’s been such a team effort,” she says of what’s gone into the 78,000-square-foot facility “We all came together as faculty and staff and worked with HCA to design a building that would be state of the art, but still committed to the growth and success of our students.” That part—the growth and success of students—is her true legacy; in her decades at RNC, including 25 as president and two more after being called back into service two years ago, she’s ignited thousands of nursing careers and, by extension, touched uncountable numbers of patients nationwide. A native of Newburgh in upstate New York, DeBasio is the daughter of a school nurse, graduated from Wagner College, a nursing school on Staten Island, then earned her graduate nursing degree from NYU. In Kansas City, she started with a single bachelor’s degree track and 82 students, building the college into a power with more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students. She’s won multiple awards from industry associations and alumni groups for her contribution to producing new legions of health-care workers. Her influence in the profession goes well beyond this region: DeBasio served two two-year terms as a member at large on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s board of directors. She also has served as a team chair for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education since 2003. Her call to leadership, she says, came from “wanting to make changes that would create a positive impact on those around me. … My leadership is more of what the Jesuits talk about with heroic leadership: we’re all leaders every day, leading poorly or well. I think that describes who I am.”

Carl Myers, North Kansas City Hospital
Carl Myers returned to his native Platte City after medical school at Mizzou—and immediately doubled the physician count. But he took out a loan to buy a vacant clinic, cobbled together some examination tables and medical equipment, and opened shop. This July will mark 48 years since Platte City welcomed this family doctor—now one of many in the bustling exurb. Myers had two early inspirations for a career in medicine: One, the parents of his best friend were both osteopaths. He found Inspiration No. 2 in high school, standing in a back-loader prying rocks out of a Northland quarry. “You didn’t have to ask me twice to go back to school,” he dryly says. “After that, college was a piece of cake.” And affordable. At $250 a semester for undergraduate work, and $350 in medical school, he became the first in his family to finish college. He went into family medicine, and has been at it long enough to acquire his certificate in geriatrics, treating some townsfolk for nearly the full run—the barber he once swept floors for, for instance, is still a patient today. As for numbers he’s seen over the years, “I have no idea. I never have been a doctor who would see 30 patients a day; 15 a day is a big day for me, because I take time with mine. And to be honest, you can’t do geriatrics quickly—with geriatrics, they don’t have just one thing that’s wrong with them. The reason I like it is, you get to talk to people who you wouldn’t get to in something like urgent care.” Myers’ gratitude for what he received in his college and med-school education inspired him to create a network of fellow alumni, each committing to donate $1,000 a year to the university. By last year, that kitty had grown to more than $425,000, funding scholarships for medical-school students. 

Darryl Nelson, Centerpoint Medical Center
Darryl Nelson was still on the front nine of his career as a physician when he read “Crossing the Quality Chasm,” which offered a less-than-flattering look at the ways hospitals actually posed a threat to patients with things like lax infection control. It made an impression, and he raised a few concerns with his hospital’s CEO—who promptly redirected responsibility back. Thus began a personal and professional journey that would lead the family physician into the health care leadership ranks as a chief medical officer, most recently with Centerpoint. “I said, ‘I’m a relatively young family doctor, just trying to take care of patients,”’ Nelson recalls. “He said, ‘No, you’re not; you can figure out  how to make this better.”’ It would be another decade before Nelson secured the CMO title, but the wheels were in motion with his focus on better outcomes. Long before he enrolled in med school at UMKC, Nelson had been exposed to the aspirations of good physicians everywhere. His father, a mechanical engineer, was facilities manager at the former Baptist Memorial Hospital and would bring young Darryl along as a middle schooler. The interactions he had with doctors there, about what they do and why, set the hook. Family medicine became his passion during third-year rotations when he spent a month at a small practice in Warrensburg and realized the range-of-care element as a primary physician. “That cemented it for me: it was clearly what I wanted to do,” Nelson says. “Seeing the breadth of conditions they treated, treating patients of all ages, their parents and grandparents—they were even doing some obstetrics and delivering back in those days.” With retirement official as of this month, Nelson is training his sights on “a lot of community work that I’m passionate about,” such as his long engagement with Angel Flight, Honor Flight, and Habitat for Humanity.