A Message From the Chief Nursing Officer

Let me just say how proud I am to walk in this community and often hear great stories about the care we provide. I am proud of the nursing team we have at Research Medical Center. We have numerous accomplishments and a dedicated team who provides award-winning, quality care to our patients and the community we serve.

For your consideration, I am providing factual data and a list of accomplishments that you all have helped us achieve at Research Medical Center. These accomplishments speak for themselves and prove that we are safe, our patients receive world-class care and we have achieved national recognition for these and other efforts. It has been through our own internal hard work and dedication that Research Medical Center is recognized as a premier medical facility in the Midwest and one of the region’s providers of choice for health issues.

Some of our accomplishments include:

• Missouri Award of Excellence for Patient Safety in 2011 and 2009
• 20% increase in employee engagement throughout the hospital over the past five years
• 117% improvement in turnover rate over five years
• 25% improvement in patient satisfaction over the past five years
• Numerous Joint Commission accreditations and certifications in heart failure, stroke and cancer care
• American Heart Association Triple Gold recognition for heart and stroke

I believe that part of the reason for the success of many of these accomplishments is due to our active Shared Governance nursing councils. These Councils offer leadership to their peers through:

• Nurse Executive and Nurse Practice Councils
• Nursing Quality Peer Review Council
• Nurse Retention and Nurse Research Councils
• Professional Development and Education Council
• Outpatient and Regulatory Readiness Councils

These are high-functioning, peer-led workgroups who are making a difference in the processes and improvements at Research Medical Center.

Research Medical Center has a strong culture of professional, high-quality care that has been provided to our community and the patients we serve for 125 years. I want to thank the nurses and the entire healthcare team for the outstanding care they provide to our patients every day.

Cindy Johnson, RN, BASN, MHA
Chief Nursing Officer
Research Medical Center

Rockhill Greens Groundbreaking Ceremony

The official launch of Rockhill Greens took place last week with the demolition of the 6601 A building. Rockhill Greens will integrate senior housing and commercial businesses on the Research Brookside Campus.

Matt Sogard Named Chief Operating Officer

Research Medical Center recently named Matt Sogard as its chief operating officer effective February 1, 2012. Matt has extensive experience in operations and healthcare administration that will serve as a great asset in his new role at Research Medical Center as he continues to develop and lead our operational excellence.

Since 2005, Matt has been in an administrative role with Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, an HCA-HealthONE facility, in Denver, Colorado. Since 2008, he has held the position of chief operating officer. His enterprise-wide responsibilities have included operational, clinical and financial performance for perioperative, imaging, laboratory and other hospital services. He has led numerous capital improvement projects and drove the completion of many operational improvement initiatives including leading the development and construction of the $150M Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. As the chief administrator of the pediatric hospital within a hospital, he led the strategic planning and medical staff development for pediatric and neonatal services.

Matt has also driven the hospital’s growth teams, led employee engagement and culture refinement efforts such as leadership development teams, a hospital recycling program, 100 Fixes in 100 Days, employee appreciation lunches and formal leadership rounding.

Prior to Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, Matt was with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa from 2004 to 2005.

Matt obtained a master of health administration and master of business administration from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. His bachelor of science in biology was obtained from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Matt is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

He is married with four children, and is an avid sports fan. Please join us in welcoming Matt to our team.

VITAS Innovative Hospice Care of Kansas City Begins Construction at Research Medical Center

Facility Designed to Meet the Community’s Needs for High-Quality Hospice Services for Terminally Ill Patients with Complex Symptoms

VITAS Innovative Hospice Care of Kansas City today announced the ground-breaking of construction this month of its first local inpatient hospice unit (IPU) at Research Medical Center (RMC). Designed to meet the community’s needs for hospice services for terminally ill patients with complex symptoms, the facility is slated to be completed and begin accepting patients in March 2012.

The project, located on the seventh floor of RMC at 2316 East Meyer Boulevard, will create in its first year approximately 25 new jobs at the VITAS IPU. Like all other VITAS IPUs, the 9,000-square-foot, 16-bed facility is being built to ensure maximum comfort for patients and their families, with amenities that are designed to feel like home and include kitchen, dining and sitting areas as well as a “serenity room” for quiet contemplation and meditation.

“We look forward to providing the high-quality, compassionate hospice care service for which VITAS is known and that our patients and their families expect,” said VITAS of Kansas City General Manager Julia Vandervelde, who has worked for VITAS for four years.

“Our community has an unmet need for inpatient hospice beds,” explains Susan Shreeve, chief financial officer at Research Medical Center. “We are very pleased to be able to work with VITAS to provide this service to our community. It is a great benefit to our patients and their families.”