Doug Rich Receives Heart of Health Care Award from the Kansas Hospital Association

OTTAWA, Kan., September 12, 2024 — AdventHealth Ottawa is proud to announce Chief Operating Officer Doug Rich received the Heart of Health Care Award from the Kansas Hospital Association. The Kansas Hospital Association's Heart of Health Care Worker Award highlights hospital employees who have made a significant contribution to the betterment of their hospital. These individuals are nominated for this award because they routinely go above and beyond the call of duty.

Doug Rich is interwoven in everything that happens at the AdventHealth Ottawa campus. As the chief operating officer, Rich is a true leader in heart and spirit. He's never too busy to stop what he's doing to roll up his sleeves and help someone, whether carrying a heavy load or escorting a patient or visitor where they need to go.

During some setbacks impacting the hospital and Ottawa community, Rich seized the opportunity to significantly improve employee engagement. He had productive conversations with staff members who provided feedback on what was working and what needed to change. He then incorporated the feedback into plans for short- and long-term improvements.

Rich is an active member and advisor of both the Ransom Memorial Hospital and AdventHealth Ottawa Boards of Trustees and frequently represents the hospital in government relations, most recently advocating for Kansas rural health initiatives during Advocacy Day at the state capitol in Topeka. He has also hosted tours of the Ottawa hospital campus to members of Congress, sharing the importance of Medicare programs to the Ottawa community, such as the Low-Volume Adjustment program and telehealth.

Rich has helped increase services, including leading construction efforts around the new AdventHealth Ottawa Health Park, which brought additional outpatient services, including a new and expanded behavioral health service line, to the rural Franklin County population. In 2017, then named Ransom Memorial Hospital, Rich was the project lead on expanding the emergency department, opening doors to a modern facility for the community.

Rich, and other Heart of Health Care Worker Award nominees, were recognized during the KHA Awards Luncheon at the 2024 KHA Annual Convention on Sept. 5, 2024, in Overland Park, Kan.

About AdventHealth Ottawa
AdventHealth Ottawa is a 44‐bed acute care facility that delivers a wide range of inpatient, outpatient and surgical health care services across Franklin County and its surrounding areas. AdventHealth Ottawa provides whole-person care for every stage of life and health with a presence in the community lasting more than 80 years. In May 2019 Ransom Memorial Health became AdventHealth Ottawa, joining AdventHealth’s connected system of care comprised of nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in diverse markets throughout almost a dozen states. With a sacred mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth is a connected system of care with more than 80,000 skilled and compassionate caregivers in physician practices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and hospice centers provide individualized, wholistic care.