Five area healthcare organizations are forming a healthcare cooperative to improve and strengthen rural healthcare in southeast Kansas. Leadership teams from Labette Health, Wilson Medical Center, Labette Center for Mental Health Services, Four County Mental Health Center, Inc., and Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center have created a formal agreement, via a charter, to establish Southeast Kansas Health.
Southeast Kansas Health is designed to help navigate the evolving healthcare landscape by bringing the region together to help develop a sustainable healthcare model – while remaining independent.
“As an RN with many years of experience and a lifetime resident of southeast Kansas, I understand the importance of access and have a passion to continue providing high-quality care close to home,” said Kathi McKinney, RN, President of Southeast Kansas Health. “This is not a merger or acquisition. This is a strategic collaboration aimed to improve and sustain access to both behavioral and physical healthcare services. We’re working smarter, not harder, by bringing these resources together.”
The cooperation comes at a time when nationally, hundreds
See HEALTH, Page 3.
of rural healthcare organizations have closed or have been bought by larger healthcare systems, as well as the impending long-term impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. According to national data, Kansas has more rural hospitals at risk of closure than any other state due to a number of factors, including declining populations, higher Medicare and Medicaid populations, too many inpatient hospital beds for the population served, and duplication and dilution of services and resources.
“With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill and the Rural Health Transformation Program contained within the bill, there has never been a better time with a clearer direction for healthcare providers to work together in strategic coordination and collaboration”, said Doug Stacy, President and CEO of Wilson Medical Center.
Southeast Kansas Health will hopefully serve as a catalyst for southeast Kansas collaboration and anticipates future members. The charter’s primary goal is to leverage the collective strengths of its members to enhance the quality of patient care, increase access to specialized services, and improve operational efficiency across the region by working in coordination and collaboration. To achieve this, Southeast Kansas Health will focus on several key areas: —Resource sharing: Establish joint teams to share best practices in clinical care, patient safety, and administrative processes.
—Patient access: Coordinate services - ensuring patients have access to a broader network of specialists and resources.
—Financial and operational efficiency: Work together on supply chain management, technology adoption, and administrative functions to reduce costs without compromising a high standard of care.
“We are excited by this opportunity to work together along the entire healthcare continuum to not only imagine a better future but to work together to build it”, said Nathan Fawson, CEO of Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center.
Southeast Kansas Health’s board will include a board and management member from each organization. The goal is to maximize the strengths and resources of each organization, not to merge or compromise individual governance, as all member organizations will continue with their own leadership, budget, and boards.
Eighth grade students from Meadow View, are shown with the over 2000 items that the school donated for the Stella Well Food Drive. From left are: Sloan Mathis, Aylssa Norman, Kaiya Robinson, Kennedy Thompson, Allyson Baldwin, Mac Reed, Brynlee Blackburn, Zailey Burrow. These girls picked up the food items from each class room and helped deliver them to Stella Wells. Courtesy Photo
