Jodi Schmidt has signed a five-year contract to become the next President and Chief Executive Officer of Labette Health in Parsons.
Schmidt, who is currently Vice President/Chief Development officer of Hays Medical Center, a 205-bed hospital in Hays, Kan., will begin her new duties in Parsons Aug. 23.
The announcement was made Friday by Vince Schibi, President of Labette Health’s Board of Trustees.
“We are delighted to welcome Jodi Schmidt to Labette Health and to Parsons,” Schibi said. “We were impressed by her vision, her accomplishments and her understanding of the challenges we face in providing care to our communities.”
“It was a big effort to start with 108 candidates and get down to the one outstanding individual we felt was best suited to lead Labette Health forward,” he said.
Schmidt holds an MBA in Health Administration from the University of Colorado Executive Program and has 22 years’ experience at Hays Medical Center, where she was responsible for a broad range of clinical and operational departments, including physician practice administration. She also serves as administrator of the Northwest Kansas Health Alliance, a network of 23 Critical Access Hospitals in 21 Kansas counties, and spent three years as acting Chief Executive Officer of the hospital’s community health center for the uninsured.
“Throughout the interview process I was impressed with the progressiveness of the Labette Health Board and the professionalism of the staff,” Schmidt said.
“It was also good to see such a strong medical staff, and their collaborative relationship with the hospital, which will be increasingly important as we deal with the challenges and opportunities under health reform. I am really looking forward to working with the entire Labette Health team.”
She currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the National Rural Health Association, serving as Chair of the Hospitals and Health Systems Constituency Group.
Schmidt and her husband, Dave, have two sons and a daughter: Chris, a health information technology systems engineer in Kansas City; and T.J. and Taylor, both college students in Lawrence.