Nonprofit Kansas hospital organization honors innovative work of Wichita State president

The Kansas Hospital Association honored the health care contributions of Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick; Dennis Franks, CEO of Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute; and Wichita State University president Richard Muma, who has a lead role in development of the Wichita Biomedical Campus. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)

OVERLAND PARK — The Kansas Hospital Association honored Wichita State University president Richard Muma’s leadership in developing the $300 million biomedical campus in the heart of downtown Wichita to blend all of the WSU health education programs with the University of Kansas-Wichita’s medical and pharmacy schools.

Health care students and faculty from both universities and WSU Tech will share the Wichita Biomedical Campus anchored by an eight-story structure with classrooms, workspaces, laboratories, simulation rooms and other facilities for hands-on training. The first phase of the four-block project is expected to be operational in spring 2027.

Muma, who was appointed president of WSU in 2021, was presented the Donald Wilson Visionary Award by the KHA. Wilson’s was KHA’s president from 1982 until retiring in 2004.

“I see the Wichita Biomedical Campus as a very visionary project to help move health care forward in a part of the state where we really haven’t had a lot of focus,” Muma said. “What we’re trying to do is create a seamless pipeline from high school all the way to postgraduate medical education.”

He said a model for the health education project was the Innovation Campus on WSU’s main campus. In the past decade, approximately 50 companies have located within the unusual campus to conduct research and development, employ students, build the state’s workforce and create jobs.

KHA also recognized state Sen. Carolyn McGinn, a Republican from the community of Sedgwick, who chose not to seek reelection in 2024. She has been in the Senate for 20 years and was instrumental in establishing a behavioral health hospital in southwest Wichita to supplement the Larned and Osawatomie state hospitals.

The new state hospital, currently under construction, will provide 100 psychiatric beds for Kansans desperate for “access to humane, dignified care and caring closer to home.”

In addition, McGinn supported expansion of telehealth in the state, created harsher penalties for perpetrators of assaults on health care staff and brought about more transparency in billing practices of nurse staffing agencies.

Dennis Franks, CEO of Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute, was presented the Charles Billings Award for distinguished service to the field of health care in Kansas. He has led the Neosho medical center since 2006, and has worked in health care for 43 years.

“Whether on the local, state or federal level, he has educated and informed policy makers and leaders on important issues such as expanding access to health care and new models of health care delivery,” said Chad Austin, KHA president and CEO.

KHA is a voluntary, nonprofit organization serving as the leading advocate and resource for 237 member facilities, of which 121 operate as full-service, community hospitals.