NKC Health Received Award by Missouri Hospital Association

Posted November 12, 2025

The Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) honored NKC Health with the 2025 Aim for Excellence Award for its outstanding clinical outcomes.

MHA announced the honor on November 5 during its 103rd Annual Convention. Established in 2016, the Aim for Excellence Award annually honors Missouri hospitals for their advancements and outcomes related to progress toward the Triple Aim — better health, improved care, and lower costs.

“I am extremely proud of our team for earning this achievement,” President and CEO of NKC Health, Dr. Stephen Reintjes, said in a statement.  “The teamwork and dedication that went into making real, patient-focused improvements truly reflect the heart of our mission.”

Reintjes was featured in the 2025 Ingram’s 250: The Most Powerful Business Leaders in Greater Kansas City. With 451 beds system-wide and roughly 20,000 annual admissions, NKC Health generated 2024 revenues of $2.9 billion.

This year, NKC Health implemented evidence-based interventions to reduce defibrillation delays, optimize time-to-shock performance, streamline workflows, enhance training and standardize protocols for all team members. The health system experienced an improvement in adherence to American Heart Association-recommended care by 43%, shortened hospital stays and increased post-cardiac arrest survival to discharge.

In September, NKC Health was gifted $8 million from entrepreneurs Dave and Jamie Cummings. The gift will support facility expansion, state-of-the-art diagnostic technology and pioneering treatment programs in the health system.

NKC Health, formerly known as North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health, operates with more than 4,700 staff members, including over 600 dedicated physicians across 35 locations. Last month, Ingram’s recognized two NKC Health physicians, Douglas Ham and Andrew Jurgensmeier, in Ingram’s 2025 Top Doctors.