SALINA - Governor Laura Kelly joined health care leaders from across the state today for the third annual Kansas Executive Healthcare Summit, where she discussed the path forward for Medicaid expansion following the 2024 legislative session. Attendees also heard from industry experts at Lument, Jones Lang LaSalle, Siemens, Global Care Force, and Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System.

“Right now, over half of our rural hospitals are at risk of shutting their doors, which also threatens the jobs of many of our doctors, nurses, and hospital staff,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Despite the roadblocks enacted by legislative leadership this session, I will continue to advocate for Medicaid expansion to support our rural hospitals, health care providers, and Kansas’ well-being.”

Uninsured Kansans face barriers to accessing preventive health care and, as a result, often must resort to receiving treatment in hospital emergency departments. This influx of patients stresses the resources of facilities, causes unnecessary strain on emergency room staff, and pulls focus from providing critical, lifesaving care.

By expanding Medicaid, an additional 150,000 working Kansans will have access to essential preventive health care, including screenings, prescriptions, and treatments. This will alleviate the stress emergency departments have in providing non-emergent care. Shifting this care away from emergency departments increases staff capacity and could improve health care workforce retention by reducing burnout.

“For the past 29 years, Docs Who Care has provided temporary and long-term staffing to critical access hospitals across the state of Kansas,” said Dr. Gary Morsch, Founder and Chairman of Global Care Force and Docs Who Care. “Each year in over 40 Kansas hospitals, we send high-quality mission-minded physicians and [advanced practice providers] to provide emergency department, inpatient, and clinical coverage. This is an essential service to support hospitals in preventing burnout from their employed staff and filling the gap while they recruit permanent providers.”

More information about the Kansas Executive Healthcare Summit can be found here.