North Kansas City Hospital, Meritas Health Are Now NKC Health

Posted June 12, 2025

Updated June 13, 2025 at 3:23 p.m.

North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health have been rebranded under one unified name, NKC Health.

The transition to the brand will commence over the next 12 to 24 months, according to a release. The new brand honors the legacy of the hospitals and pays homage to its origin. The rebrand also includes a new logo for the hospitals.

“Our new brand is a celebration of the incredible dedication of our team, now united,” president and CEO of NKC Health, Dr. Stephen Reintjes Sr., said in the release. “We share a bold commitment to seek better answers and to honor the trust placed in us by those we impact. We’re creating a new path for healthcare, not just for today, but for generations to come.”

The change also enforces a unified system between the hospitals within its patient base. According to a recent consumer survey, around 23% of the NKCH primary service area recognized Meritas Health as part of North Kansas City Hospital.

The health system assures the rebrand will not affect upcoming patient appointments or changes to their primary physicians. Medical records will also not be affected.

In April, North Kansas City Hospital announced it had joined the Mayo Clinic Care Network. The network is a group of carefully selected, independent healthcare organizations that share knowledge and a team of specialists. The now-dubbed NKC Health stated the decision to rebrand was not related to its decision to join the network and the system remains independent.

Update

NKC Health issued the following statement regarding the rebrand, clarifying questions about the relationship between the two organizations:

The NKC Health rebrand is not a result of a merger or a newly formed partnership. North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health Corporation will remain two separate legal organizations. Now, both organizations will use the name NKC Health, so they are presented publicly as a health system under a common name. NKC Health is a registered “doing business as” name. The rebrand does not represent a structural change to our organization. However, in the spirit of one team, one mission, we are aligning our organizations to better serve our patients, and the rebrand is one more step in that direction.

Patients and families often interact with multiple parts of our health system — hospital, clinics, physician offices, outpatient services — and it hasn’t always been clear that we are one connected system. This new brand creates unity. It helps patients instantly recognize that whether they’re receiving care in our hospital, seeing a primary care provider or accessing specialty services, they are part of the same trusted system, receiving coordinated, high-quality care.