Ottawa University

OU Grad Coordinates HR Efforts for Major Area Hospital

OTTAWA, Kansas - Since August of 2004, Ottawa University (OU) alumna Nancy Hill has served as vice president of human resources for Independence Regional Health Center (IRHC) and Medical Center of Independence, Missouri.  These facilities have long worked in tandem to meet the healthcare needs of Lafayette and eastern Jackson County residents.  However, in an effort to provide better, more convenient access to state-of-the-art healthcare services, Centerpoint Medical Center will open in late spring 2007 to replace the former facilities.   Hill has coordinated the human resource efforts of the transition.

Located just off of I-70 at 19600 East 39th Street (39th Street and Jackson Drive) in Independence, "Centerpoint is in a central, convenient location for the growing population of the community," said Hill.  "Its service, technology and amenities will make it unlike any other hospital in eastern Jackson County." 

The goal for the new facility is to become the "employer of choice", the "provider of choice" and the "preferred community partner," according to Hill.

Licensed for 257 beds, the new hospital will feature all private rooms; state-of-the-art equipment and technology; the latest in healthcare services; as well as valet parking, concierge services and other amenities.  Outpatient imaging, ambulatory surgery and outpatient rehab services are already operating at the new location.

In preparing for the opening of the new hospital, part of Hill's charge has been to ensure that consistent policies and procedures, job descriptions, and compensation and management practices exist between the facilities.  She has also been involved with managers and supervisors in developing staffing and recruitment plans for each unit of the hospital.

"The healthcare industry is very dynamic, and we are faced with healthcare worker shortages at all levels.  We have been very focused on the recruitment and retention of qualified staff, as well as on employee engagement.  We have implemented management training for our leaders and service excellence skills training for all levels of employees," Hill said.

Hill has worked in the human resources field for approximately 25 years.  Prior to joining IRHC, she was the director/senior director of human resources at the University of Kansas Hospital.   She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in human resources from Ottawa University's Kansas City campus.

"The classes for the Master of Arts in Human Resources (MAHR) program were very beneficial and timely for me given the major transition our facilities have been going through the past couple of years.  I had the opportunity to apply the knowledge that I was gaining from the classes to real-life human resources challenges," Hill said.  "That made what I learned at OU very meaningful not only to me but to my organization," she added. 

Hill is originally from Iowa but spent 18 years in Denver, Colorado, before returning to the Midwest in 1995.  She is married and has one daughter who is an elementary teacher at Randall Elementary School in Independence, Missouri.    

Founded in 1865, Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Ottawa University's educational mission brings together a residential campus in Ottawa, Kansas, and adult campuses in Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jeffersonville, Indiana; as well as multiple international instructional sites.  For more information, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/.

# # #