KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Top officials with the University of Kansas Health System were up late Sunday night to celebrate a milestone.
The system said the midnight celebration marked 20 years since officials started a process to change the fortunes of the organization that was on the brink of financial dispair in the mid 1990s.
“Tonight marks our 20th anniversary as a hospital,” Bob Page, Kansas Heath System president and CEO said at the midnight event. “It was this day, this time, 20 years ago, that the hospital authority was born.
“We just wanted to say thank you and to celebrate the last 20 years and wanted to pave the way for the next 20 years.”
Page said about 350 employees have remained at the organization during the last 20 years.
The turn-around time informally started when hospital executives received a $23 million cash infusion from former University of Kansas Vice Chancellor Don Hagen. The cash helped the hospital with operations and sparked improvements in patient care and satisfaction.
