Hays Medical Center
HaysMed announces that Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has appointed Joben Rieth, Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, to serve as interim on the Kansas State Board of Nursing.
The Kansas State Board of Nursing is responsible for protecting public health, safety, and welfare through the licensure and regulation of nursing professionals. Its work helps ensure consistent standards of care and safe practice across all healthcare settings in Kansas.
In this role, Rieth will help guide policies and standards that influence the nursing profession and shape healthcare delivery throughout the state, impacting providers, patients, and families alike.
This appointment brings representation from Western Kansas to a statewide leadership role, ensuring that the unique needs and perspectives of rural communities are included in decisions that affect access to care and the future of the nursing workforce. Rural healthcare providers often face distinct challenges related to workforce, resources, and access, making this perspective especially important at the state level.
Rieth’s experience in clinical leadership and healthcare operations adds valuable expertise to the Board, reinforcing the caliber of leadership at HaysMed while supporting efforts to maintain and advance high-quality care across the region.
About HaysMed
Hays Medical Center (HaysMed) is a private, not-for-profit, 200+ bed hospital providing the only tertiary-level services in the region. As the premier provider in western Kansas for specialized care, HaysMed offers a wide variety of specialty programs including cardiology, orthopedics, cancer, surgery (general, minimally invasive and robotic), ENT, pulmonology, critical care and women’s services. HaysMed is a Level III Trauma Center and a certified Primary Stroke Center.
Other services include rehabilitation, hospice, neonatal, intensive care and diagnostic imaging, as well as a Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Center and a Sleep and Neurodiagnostic Center. HaysMed is proud to be one of only 20 U.S. hospitals recognized by Vizient in 2023 as a Top Performer in the Complex Care Medical Center cohort. In 2024, HaysMed was named as one of the top 100 rural and community hospitals in the country by the National Rural Health Association and earned the prestigious five-star designation in the 2024 CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings. Learn more at haysmed.com.