LAKIN, Kan. (March 8, 2021) — Kearny County Hospital has continued its commitment to improving infant and maternal health by earning recognition through High 5 for Mom & Baby Premier, a program developed by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates in Kansas.

High 5 for Mom & Baby Premier provides resources and a framework to help Kansas hospitals and birth facilities implement ten evidence-based practices proven to support successful breastfeeding, improving maternal and infant health outcomes while also reducing racial and ethnic health disparities.

To obtain High 5 for Mom & Baby Premier recognition, each facility is asked to complete a voluntary and self-reported evaluation and to follow all ten of the evidence-based practices:

1. Facility will have a written maternity care and infant feeding policy that addresses all ten High 5 for Mom & Baby practices supporting breastfeeding
2. Facility will maintain staff competency in lactation support
3. All pregnant women will receive information and instruction on breastfeeding
4. Assure immediate and sustained skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby after birth
5. All families will receive individualized infant feeding counseling
6. Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk unless medically indicated
7. Practice “rooming in” – allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day
8. Families will be encouraged to feed their babies when the baby exhibits feeding cues, regardless of feeding methods
9. Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants
10. Provide mothers options for breastfeeding support in the community (such as a telephone number, walk-in clinic information, support groups, etc.) upon discharge

“Breastfeeding plays a crucial role in the overall health of babies and mothers,” stated Katie Schoenhoff, Director of Programs at the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund. “Following the ten High 5 for Mom & Baby practices demonstrates Kearny County Hospital’s commitment to infant and maternal health by helping moms successfully initiate and maintain breastfeeding.”

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), 60% of mothers stopped breastfeeding sooner than they planned. Some factors that influence how long or if a baby is breastfed include: hospital practices, education and encouragement, policies or support in the workplace, and access to community support – which is why High 5 for Mom & Baby facilities are committed to helping women breastfeed successfully, through staff trained in breastfeeding best practices and policies to help mothers meet their breastfeeding goals.

Along with the recognition of being named a High 5 for Mom & Baby Premier facility, Kearny County Hospital also receives ongoing education and training opportunities, support and resources through a community of delivery centers, and scholarship opportunities to further staff education.

“Breastfeeding provides numerous health benefits for both infants and mothers, and we’re honored to receive this recognition from the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund for our efforts to support successful breastfeeding initiation and maintenance. As a facility committed to providing the very highest quality of care, we have found the High 5 practices and resources to not only improve health outcomes but also increase patient satisfaction,” said Becky Chappel, RN, Perinatal Supervisor at Kearny County Hospital’s Special Blessings Family Birth Center.

For more information on High 5 for Mom & Baby Premier, contact Cara Gerhardt, Program Coordinator: coordinator@high5kansas.org, or visit the website at https://www.high5kansas.org/.

To learn more about Kearny County Hospital’s Family Birth Center, access resources and register for childbirth education classes, visit https://www.kearnycountyhospital.com/care-and-services/family-birth-center/.

‘Tis the time of year to spread holiday cheer – not germs. The holidays are prime time for the spread of infectious diseases like colds, flu, pneumonia and viruses, including COVID-19. Cold weather months keep us inside more, which leads to higher spread of all things transmissible.

It’s cold outside, but think of those damp, warm interiors – with the smells of roasting turkeys and pumpkin pies – as the perfect breeding ground for germs to spread. People gather closely, touching each other, the food, and practically every surface. Hugging and laughter all abound – with coughs and sneezes in equal abundance.

So how do you keep your loved ones healthy for the holidays without skipping special events or gathering virtually? Make sure you – and the ones you love – get those important winter vaccines. We know you’ve got a lot on your plate, so we came up with a plan to make it easy for you:

Our Family Health Center Clinic in Lakin, KS offers convenient walk-ins for flu, pneumonia and COVID-19 vaccinations Monday through Friday from 8:00 am-5:00 pm and Saturdays from 9:00-11:00 am – no appointment needed!

To make an appointment, visit our online Vaccine Hub and complete the form or call 620-355-7550 to get it scheduled. There, you will also find helpful information about vaccines, including frequently asked questions, immunization schedules, and more – for all ages and all times of year.

Many cherished holidays take place during this special time of year. Whatever holiday fun you have planned – or any time of year you need a vaccine and/or booster – Kearny County Hospital’s team of trusted experts is here to take care of you and your whole family.

From our team at Kearny County Hospital, Happy Holidays and all the best for your healthiest New Year ever.

A message from our new Chief Executive Officer to our valued patients, team and community:

Hello! I’m Emily Dilley, and I am thrilled to join the Kearny County Hospital family as your new CEO.

I am new to the Lakin community. There were many factors that drew me here, perhaps most of all the community and organization’s strongly rooted values and forward-thinking culture. I saw a team of innovators here who are building a vision for Kearny County Hospital – striving for excellence, finding creative ways to do more, and confident that a model for excellence in rural health exists right here in Kearny County.

The richness and diversity of the community was also part of the draw for me. Diverse perspectives drive innovative thinking. Different experiences, beliefs and perceptions, when brought together, make for the perfect brainstorm of unique ideas and solutions. That is what I experienced when I came here, and I am so happy to now be a part of it.

I saw who you are as a community and what you are poised to become. I saw kindness. I witnessed honesty. I marveled at how genuinely people care about their neighbors and each other. I was touched at how you reached out to make my family feel so welcome. My husband Shawn was equally impressed, and we knew that Kearny County would be a wonderful place to raise our seven-year-old daughter Telynn, and our son Beckett, who is three.

A hospital is so much more than a building and the beds inside. A hospital’s greatness is measured by the caliber of its people.

Great hospitals like this one deserve a committed, engaged, and caring team at all levels of the organization. Leadership, at its core, is based in relationships, an engaged and empowered culture, and good intentions – where we focus on solutions that are best for our patients, team, and community as a whole. It is how we can, not how we can’t.

Keeping the patient at the center of everything we do, every decision we make – that is what makes a hospital thrive. We come together to develop realistic, innovative, fiscally responsible initiatives that meet the needs of our patients, team, and community.

Collectively, with the entire KCH family, we will continue to build on decades of hard work and progress. My model of leadership begins and ends with caring – caring not only for but about each other and having open, honest, and transparent communication with one another. I’ve always said that in rural healthcare, it’s easier to keep people at the center of everything you do because you know them, you have a relationship with them. And it will be my privilege to come to know all of you.

As the new CEO, I will continue building on our strong foundation of caring, excellence, high quality care, and innovation. Great things have been happening at KCH for over 70 years now. Here’s to more great things to come! Thank you for allowing my family to be part of it.

Sincerely,

Emily Dilley, MBA, HSL

Chief Executive Officer

Kearny County Hospital

Click here to read the press release announcing Emily Dilley as Kearny County Hospital CEO

Click here to learn more about Emily

Get to know Emily:

LAKIN, Kan. (August 31, 2021) — Kearny County Hospital was one of eight rural health organizations recently featured in “Bright Spots: Case Studies in Innovative Rural Healthcare,” a national report compiled by the Texas A&M University Rural & Community Health Institute, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, and Episcopal Health Foundation.

By highlighting “bright spot” success stories of rural communities and institutions tackling their healthcare challenges, the report’s creators hope to inspire other communities confronting similar struggles. “For every organization gridlocked by challenges, there exists an organization that has managed to adapt and overcome,” the report stated.

“Proudly, Kearny County Hospital has made great strides to overcome issues like access to care, provider staffing, and other challenges facing rural healthcare organizations across America,” said Betty Greer, President of the hospital’s Board of Trustees.

“It’s an honor to be recognized in the report – especially among so many bright ideas from other areas – but most importantly, it’s an honor to serve as a beacon of ideas for our rural health colleagues across the country.”

The eight rural health organizations selected as “bright spots” were located across Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and North Dakota. Interviews with the organizations were conducted, data collected, and case studies developed in 2019-2020.

Kearny County Hospital: Building a Mission Culture

One key reason Kearny County Hospital was highlighted in the “Bright Spots” report was its success addressing provider shortages – using a unique mission-focused recruitment strategy. Former CEO Benjamin Anderson reported that ten years ago, the hospital’s clinic staff had to turn away 50 new patients a week due to staffing shortages. Today, they have expanded their reach to serve a 20-county region with a population of around 15,000 people. Anderson credited the shift to a targeted recruitment and retention strategy, aimed at attracting and keeping providers who were raised in a rural community or have dedicated part of their careers to missionary work. Generous vacation time and professional development opportunities helped achieve long-term dedication from new recruits.

In the report, the hospital’s CEO David Hofmeister described the providers and staff Kearny County has brought together as “a small herd of unicorns, those incredibly rare but absolutely amazing team members.”

The “Bright Spots” report also highlighted Kearny County Hospital’s success in serving refugees and undocumented immigrants who have flocked to Kearny County to work in the local meat-packing industry. The Kearny County community is rich in cultural diversity. According to the report, Kearny County Hospital serves over 30 different nationalities, and as of 2018, 13 percent of Kearny County residents were born outside the U.S. As part of its mission culture, Kearny County Hospital has hired healthcare providers who speak the languages of the patients they serve – providers who are known and trusted in the various immigrant communities.

“Hiring staff with a mission mindset lays a foundation of trust for the provider-patient relationship,” said Greer. “And that results in greater community health overall.”

According to the report, the hospital’s tactical recruitment efforts, paired with its mission culture, not only expanded Kearny County Hospital’s primary care footprint by 18 percent, but it was also good for the bottom line – decreasing dependency on local tax revenues by more than 60 percent.

A third focus of the “Bright Spots” report was maternal health and infant outcomes. Rural health systems nationwide struggle to maintain obstetric services, but Kearny County Hospital prioritized recruiting OB physicians. The report noted that hospital administrators knew that if mom was cared for, she would encourage the rest of her family to seek and maintain primary care services, in turn improving the health and wellness of the entire community.

The hospital’s efforts resulted in a 67 percent increase in obstetrics volume and a 60 percent increase in primary care paneled patients over five years.

“People from 11 counties come to Kearny for OB care,” according to Kearny County Hospital Chief of Staff Drew Miller, MD, FAAFP – strong evidence that the mission focus goes beyond staffing and recruitment efforts into a multicultural approach to care.

“Kearny County Hospital is proud of its recent accomplishments and grateful to the staff and community for their support in our ongoing efforts to provide accessible, high-quality healthcare to all of the people who rely on us,” Greer said.

To learn more about the achievements of Kearny County Hospital among other high-ranking rural health institutions, read the full report here.

 

About Kearny County Hospital

Kearny County Hospital is committed to providing quality, compassionate healthcare services for our community to enrich the lives of family, friends, and neighbors. The hospital was founded in 1952 and is owned and operated by the Kearny County government to provide inpatient and outpatient hospital care, emergency medical treatment, and primary care. High Plains Retirement Village, the Kearny County Home for the Aged, was founded in 1983 to provide a nursing facility, senior housing, and long-term care services. In 1990, Kearny County Hospital began operation of the Family Health Center, which provides primary healthcare in Lakin and Deerfield. For more information, visit kearnycountyhospital.com.

 

To our valued patients and members of our community:

We believe when we work to serve you at the highest level possible, great things will happen – and they are! We are excited to share with you these recent special developments at Kearny County Hospital.

First, we are proud to report the results of our latest Family Health Center patient satisfaction survey. Our providers received an outstanding score of 85 (on a scale of -100 to +100) indicating their patients’ likelihood to recommend the hospital to others – which is more than twice the national healthcare industry average of 38 (scale of -100 to +100). And nearly 82% of patients gave us a 5/5 satisfaction score after their most recent visit.

Other significant results of the survey regarding the Family Health Center’s patient care and services:

• Explanation of treatment options: 8% said extremely well or very well
• Attentiveness of nurse: 5% said a great deal or a lot
• Explanation of follow-up care: 9% said extremely well or very well
• Listening by provider: 89.3% rated 5/5
• Cleanliness of facility: 83% rated 5/5
• Service at reception: 4% rated 5/5

These results clearly demonstrate our commitment to ensuring a positive patient experience throughout the entire organization. We deeply appreciate and commend our staff for providing excellent care and comfort to our patients every day.

We also congratulate our Chief of Staff, Dr. Drew Miller, for his selection by the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians as the 2021 Family Physician of the Year – such a well-deserved honor! Dr. Miller truly personifies the highest ideals of family medicine through his comprehensive patient care, his compassion for others, and his work in our community.

We are proud to celebrate all the wonderful providers and staff at Kearny County Hospital, the Family Health Center, and High Plains Retirement Village – familiar faces in our own community who care for families, friends and neighbors every day. A special welcome goes out to our newest provider, Dr. Mark Frakes, who is board certified in family medicine with subspecialties in obstetrics, women’s health, and hospital medicine. Dr. Frakes joined us in May and is accepting new patients of all ages.

As champions of advancing rural health, we have worked to provide the highest possible quality of care for nearly 70 years, and we remain deeply committed to your health and wellness. Great things are happening at Kearny County Hospital, and we thank you for being a part of it!

Sincerely,

 

 

David Hofmeister
Chief Executive Officer
Kearny County Hospital