Winter 2025 Newsletter 
News from the Board
Welcome 2025! The New Year is off to a strong start and KARQM is moving forward to help support our members as they continue to try to navigate the ever-changing healthcare landscape. Our board has experienced changes we want to share with you.
Michelle Lour is our incoming President-Elect. Michelle graduated with her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Washburn University and received her MHSA at the University of Kansas. Michelle put her nursing skills to work in the Emergency Department at the University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus. Michelle extended her skills and transferred her passion to the Quality and Risk management role in 2017. She’s been the Director of Risk Management and Compliance since 2020. When not working, Michelle enjoys spending time with her four children, eating good food, reading and playing games.
We say a fond farewell to our long term board member Ron Marshall . Ron joined KHA in 2014 and has been the Director of Preparedness and Regulatory Affairs as well as the KARQM KHA liaison for years. He has been a valuable contributor the KARQM team and we will miss his expertise. Congratulations on your retirement Ron – we wish you all the best!
Larry Van Der Wege will serve in Ron’s place. A graduate of Bethany College and Wichita State University, Larry started in healthcare as a physical therapist while also filling roles as a safety director, risk manager and chief operating officer. For the last 17 years, he has been the CEO/Administrator at Lindsborg. Welcome to KARQM Larry!
With the advent of the new KARQM website, we needed Rachel Merrick's expertise, and she graciously agreed to take on a new role as Membership & Media Chair. This role will not only provide support and oversight to our members but assume responsibility for our new website www.karqm.org
New District Chairs
Meet your new Southeast Kansas District Director– Sarah Hoy.
Dawn Stasser, BSN, RN, CCM, is our new Northwest District Chair. Dawn is the Quality Manager and HIPAA Privacy Officer for Goodland Regional Medical Center and Rawlins County Health Center. Dawn’s message to our KARQM members: “I am passionate about rural healthcare and the special care and quality that a rural facility adds to the healthcare world. I believe in the power of continuous improvement and strive to make a positive impact on patient care every day. Outside of my professional life, you can find me spending time with my kids and my first grandson! I also enjoy sitting at the embroidery machine or designing t-shirts, and running a local restaurant. My diverse interests keep me energized and creative, both in and out of the healthcare setting.”
The Southwest District has a new Chair - Welcome Sarah Morris, BSN, RN. Sarah serves as the Quality Director, Infection Prevention and Employee Health Nurse at Kearny County Hospital in Lakin. Sarah brings over 20 years of nursing experience to her role at KCH, with experience in Intermediate Care/Med-Surg, Pediatrics, Labor & Delivery/Post-Partum/Newborn Care, Long Term Care, Peri-Operative/Surgical Services, Central Service/Sterile Processing, and School Nursing. Sarah is committed to help KCH continue to provide high quality care to the community they serve.
Special thanks to Tina Pendergraft for her many years of service to the SW district. We are grateful for her expertise!
District Highlight
SE District
Submitted by Sarah Hoy, SE District Chair
The district chapters are a great way to connect with fellow quality and risk leaders in your region! In the SEK region, we strive to meet quarterly and discuss helpful tips and tricks as well review new upcoming measures and requirements for our teams. We meet in person when possible but due to Kansas weather, we are joining by Teams this quarter.
This quarter we are focusing on “getting to know” each other. We each completed a survey to help us better understand where our best resources are regionally as well as some fun facts about one another. We are very fortunate in the southeast district to have long standing Quality/Risk professionals, and we are happy to report that we truly do use one another as resources. In the quick survey we completed this quarter, we found that our most experienced quality/risk professional has served for 28 years in her role! The average experience from those that participated in our survey is 14 years. We logged over 158 years of experience in our current roles in Quality and Risk! That is something to be proud for a role that is experiencing such significant turnover in our industry.
We also work hard to collaborate with one another when it comes to tricky questions. In many small hospitals, there is only you to run the quality and risk scenarios and processes by. This is one of those roles that can leave you feeling alone on the island because you are the only expert in the building. But let’s face it – even the experts have questions sometimes. We have reviewed questions ranging from how did you correct this finding with the fire marshal, to how did you roll out the SDoH measures, back to have you ever had to report a medical staff member and how does that work?
We are a resource that works hard to support one another and collaborate to ensure that no matter where you are in SEK, we do healthcare to the highest quality standards and ensure you can feel safe in any of our facilities. Please reach out if we can assist and we would love to have all SEK folks join our district meetings.
Business Information
The KARQM bylaws are under revision. Summary of changes include:
o Addition of new board positions with description and terms to include Membership & Media Chair and Special Projects Chair
o ASHRM membership requirement for President and President Elect
o Clarification of treasurer role in relation to contracted services provided by KHA
o Deletion of redundant statements specific to ad hoc and other committees
o Date revisions
Please look for an email in the coming week with preview of the bylaw revisions that will be voted on at the April conference.
Calendar of Events
Save the Date: KARQM's Spring Conference April 9, 2025
Join KARQM members for a full day of learning at the Rolling Hills Conference Center in Salina, Kansas. The conference will cover a range of topics, including an overview of the new Patient Safety Structural Measures, High Reliability & Psychological Safety, and updates from KDHE, the Healthcare Stabilization Fund, and ASHRM.
We will also review and vote on bylaw changes during the annual business meeting, and Rachel will guide us through the new website. Plan to spend time with your district directors and network with your colleagues.
Rolling Hills Zoo
Mentor Program
Due to the change in membership renewal, we will be sending out a form to sign up to become a mentor or a mentee in March. Please look for the email at that time.
National Organizations
Looking for an opportunity to share your expertise and successes? NAHQ Next Call for Abstracts
NAHQ encourages you to submit an abstract for virtual only 2025 NAHQ next on September 8-10. This is your opportunity to make an impact with experiences, research, tools, and expertise that are aligned with the competencies! NAHQ needs your HQ Best Practice Tools and poster submissions to train and develop the workforce to get our industry one step closer to true quality-driven healthcare.
Deadline for submission is March 14, 2025, with submitters being notified of acceptance in May 2025.
NAHQ next, a multi-day virtual event that addresses the most urgent and important issues facing healthcare today, offers a full schedule of educational sessions organized around NAHQ’s twice-validated healthcare quality competency framework. Those working in quality and safety will benefit from the actionable content that addresses issues head on and features “how-tos” and results, rather than a high-level discussion of industry challenges. Save the date and join us Sept. 8-10, 2025!
NAHQ Competency Framework:
President's Note
As we reflect on the year that has passed, it is important to take a moment to celebrate our collective progress we have made. The KARQM Board strategically focused on our mentorship program, quality education opportunities and advancing technology with our new website to being value to our membership. As we move into the new year we are dedicated to increasing the Risk and Quality resources and networking opportunities through our KARQM website forum, mentoring program and in-person events. In conclusion, I want to express my sincere gratitude to each one of you and your contribution to advancing patient safety and quality across Kansas.
Tereasa DeMeritt, KARQM President