KINGMAN – Will McConnell is settling into his new role as Chief Executive Officer at Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC). McConnell said he’s conducting a thorough evaluation and assessment after assuming the administrative reigns of the largest employer in the region on June 1.
“One of the things that I’m really trying to do in my first 90 days is stop and listen. I want to avoid the inclination to get in and start changing or start moving things early,” McConnell said. “I really want to make sure I understand the culture of KRMC . I want to make sure that I understand some of the key community relationships and I want to make sure that I’m able to have as broad an understanding as possible.”
McConnell said his transition from the hospital he managed in Durango, Colorado has been smooth because freshly retired KRMC CEO Brian Turney did such a fine job during his 25-year run.
“There’s a lot of great work that has been done at Kingman Regional over that period of time. I want to make sure that I honor that legacy but also apply my skills and abilities to continue moving Kingman Regional Medical Center forward, he said. “There’s a lot of great opportunity and I hope to be up to the task.”
McConnell said one of those opportunities involves completing the multi-million-dollar expansion of KRMC’s Emergency Department. Another, he said, is helping shape the role that KRMC’s Hualapai Mountain Campus will play in the greater Kingman community’s future.
McConnell noted that KRMC has the luxury of having the structural asset already in hand with the Hualapai Campus, and time to plan, rather than chase space in hurried fashion as health care organizations frequently do in other communities. He said he is also eager to learn more about the Kingman Crossing, the KRMC interstate 40 interchange project that will improve transportation and access in central Kingman as well as seed to nurture retail development and associated tax base and jobs that will benefit the community.
That he assumes command of a large health care institution in the middle of a pandemic is something McConnell takes in stride.
“This is what we do. We take care of people who are sick and need our help. And, yes, the current COVID-19 pandemic kind of heightens the intensity and also the scrutiny of what’s being done, but we’re in the business of taking care of people,” McConnell said. And he said its independent, community hospital status provides KRMC strength in medical professional retention.
“That longevity is great for hospital culture and the staff that I have come into contact with during ‘rounding’ and just through introductory meetings, has shown me to be a staff that really cares about this community, cares about the service they provide and cares abouts the facility in which they do it.”
Looking ahead, McConnell said he wants to make sure that KRMC is always in position to meet community medical service provision needs.
“One of the things I want to look at is how do we continue to expand our service offerings. How can we make sure that we’re providing those areas of service that the community needs so that when it comes to having to leave the community for services it’s only really for those high tertiary types of conditions, not some of the more general medicine bread and butter kind of procedures,” he said.
McConnell said he was favorably impressed with the community, the hospital and its leaders during his initial recruitment and interview visits back in the spring. He said that satisfaction has been fortified since his Kingman residency began in mid-March.
“This is a great community with some phenomenal people,” McConnell said. “That was a really important factor in my relocating here.”
- Dave Hawkins
