Press Release - For Immediate Release
December 2014
New Leadership at KCH
Four of the seventeen departments at Kingman Healthcare Center begin the year with new Department Directors.
Tracy Peissig started her career with the hospital in November of 2001. She worked in billing until October of 2011, when she left KCH to work for a state-wide hospital billing company. She returned to the hospital in May of 2013 to take a position in admissions and billing at the Medical Arts Center. In January of 2014, Tracy was offered the position of the hospital's Business Office Department Director. She accepted the offer, knowing the fast-paced, ever-changing world of healthcare reform would present many challenges. Tracy welcomes challenges, and she has many years of experience that will serve her well in her new position.
Tammie Stramel began working at the hospital as a nurse in 1980. After four months with the hospital, at the request of Dr. Bob Boyer, she transferred to the Medical Arts Center. She worked there for 13 years. During her career, Tammie worked at Kingman Drug (billing and pharmacy), as a nurse for Dr. Moots (when Donley Memorial Clinic was Riverside Clinic), and for Riverside Clinic, Wichita (in billing and coding). When Dr. Moots bought Donley Memorial Clinic, Tammie came back to Kingman to work there as a coder. In 2006, Tammie and her family moved to South Hutchinson, where Tammie worked at Hospice of Reno County. In June of 2014, she accepted the position of Department Director at the Medical Arts Center. Tammie's experiences in the medical field and her all-around knowledge of clinic operations made her the ideal choice as Medical Arts Center Department Director. Tammie is enjoying seeing patients she knew from the 1980's, and meeting and serving the new generations of those families.
Cathy Leroux started working at the KCH lab in April of 1995. The lab ran basic chemistry tests for doctors' offices at that time. Much has changed since those years. Lab services have at least doubled, and unlike most small, rural hospitals, today the KCH lab houses state-of-the-art equipment. Cathy was named Assistant Lab Manager in 2010, and Department Director of the lab in September, 2014. Cathy and her staff of six run a variety of tests, including advanced tests on an immunoassay apparatus called The Architect. Six outside clinics, three nursing homes, and many outside Specialists currently use KCH lab services, as well as patients with orders from out-of-town physicians. Cathy was interested in research when she studied for her Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology, and she feels that the results of each test run is a piece of research useful to physicians in diagnosing and helping patients.
Sharon Zerger worked in Utilization Review at Wesley hospital for 10 years, from 1973 to 1983. She was involved in inpatient charts review for length of patient stays. In 1983 she moved from Newton to Pretty Prairie, where she and her husband raised a family. In 2002, Sharon was eager to resume her career, so she came to work for KCH that year as an outpatient coder. In October of 2014, Sharon accepted the position of Department Director of the Health Information Department. With her wide array of skills and diverse knowledge, she leads a staff of four; a receptionist, a transcriptionist, an inpatient coder and an outpatient coder. Sharon and her staff respond to medical information requests, code diagnosis and procedures, code for abstracting and billing, and transcribe medical reports that are dictated by physicians and other caregivers for inclusion in patient charts.
"Last year when the Kingman Healthcare Center Board of Trustees hired me, I was informed that one of my long range tasks would be the development of future leadership for our hospital," stated Ed Riley, hospital CEO. "The board members understood and recognized that we have several department directors who potentially will be retiring over the next five years. Preparing and planning for future leaders is very important for the hospital to be successful in the long term. Tracy, Tammie, Cathy and Sharon are the start of that leadership change this year, and I have enjoyed observing how the hospital culture is transforming us to better serve our communities. All four directors bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their fields of expertise and I am looking forward to working with them in the years to come."
