Topic: Health Rankings

Interview of Gianfranco Pezzino, January 23, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

This interview with Dr. Gianfranco Pezzino is the second in the Healthy Kansans series and sets the stage for understanding the concern that Kansas has slipped considerably in the nationwide rankings of health in the states over the last 30 years. His explanation of how the rankings work and why they are important is clear and understandable. Pezzino stated, "In the end, I became more and more convinced that the important thing was not the numbers. It was the communication that we could build around those numbers." His discussion of the social determinants of health Show Moreis important to understanding the rankings. He recalls a controversy covered by the local newspaper that quoted the county commissioner saying, "What does education have to do with health?" He used that as a opportunity to begin a community conversation about those linkages. As an epidemiologist, Dr. Pezzino has played many roles in health policy in Kansas - from the local health officer to state policy maker. He recounts the stresses of being the county health officer during COVID and comments that the "social contract has been broken." He comments that there is still value in providing accurate data as a public health person but now a lot of the authority has been moved from public health officers to local elected officials. That change has created a tension between individual rights and the social good. Show Less

Interview of Robert St.Peter, January 23, 2026

Interviewed by Jim McLean

This is the opening interview for the series, Healthy Kansans. Dr. Bob St. Peter will be interviewing all the rest of the participants in this series, so Jim McLean wanted to use this interview to establish his expertise. St. Peter was President and CEO of the Kansas Health Institute for 24 years, developing and expanding their services in Kansas. Prior to that he had extensive experience in Washington DC with health policy [see his biography]. For this series of interviews, St. Peter defines health in the broadest terms and points out why the health rankings Show Moreare valuable information for policy makers. The Kansas Health Foundation which created KHI really wanted the KHI to look at a broad set of issues that influenced how healthy we are as a city, as a county, as a state, and how education, housing and transportation influenced a person's health. St. Peter points out that health in Kansas isn't getting worse. People in Kansas are living longer, generally experiencing lower rates of cardiovascular disease, stroke, etc. So, it is not that our collective health is getting worse; it is that our relative standing compared to other states is getting worse. Other states are doing better and are faster than Kansas in improving the health outcomes for their citizens. Kansas should be working on this as well. Show Less

Interview of Maynard Oliverius, March 6, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

Maynard Oliverius lays out in clear terms the policy choices the federal government made that shaped the health care system in the country today. Starting in 1946 with the Hill-Burton Act that paid for new hospital facilities, then the creation in 1965 of Medicare and Medicaid to ensure that seniors had a way to pay for health care and medical research, he tracks federal changes through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Expansion. He also notes that Kansas was leading other states in health rankings in the early 1990's, but now has fallen significantly behind other states' efforts Show Moreto improve the health of their residents. Access to health care has become a major problem for many Kansans. The interview also touches on the growth of Stormont Vail under his leadership and how it is now a major medical center serving northeast Kansas and is a locally owned, locally operated nonprofit organization. Oliverius concludes by offering his opinion that ideally the country needs to move to a single payer system in order to provide access for all - he describes it as "medicare for all." He expressed concern about the current direction of health policy nationally. Show Less

Interview of Cynthia Hornberger, April 10, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

Dr. Cynthia Hornberger is a nurse-leader in nursing education and health care. In this 2026 interview she explains how nursing education evolved at Washburn University and how the status and competency of nurses has grown in hospitals across the country. Hornberger sees advanced practice-trained nurses as critical components of the health care team and critical to delivering health care in rural settings. Today the demand for nurses often exceeds the supply. She traces the history of the development of nursing programs in Kansas to the Axtell Hospital, Axtell, Kansas and overall to Lillian Wald who in 1893 advised Show MoreDr. Samuel Crumbine, Kansas' most famous public health official. When asked why Kansas is slipping in health rankings compared to other states, she suggests Kansas lacks access to services to prevent, monitor and treat illnesses. Shortage of health care professionals is another cause. She notes there are political ramifications - politicians who do not prioritize the health and well-being of infants and children or people who are socioeconomically challenged. The discussion of how the role of nursing changed over time reflects changing attitudes about gender roles and nurses' desire for more training and a larger leadership role. Hornberger believes some things in health care eventually will be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI), such as diagnostics. The interview ends with her summarizing of her 50 years in nursing and describing her passion for gardening.

Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview

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Interview of Matthew (Matt) All, April 21, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

This is a very important interview in this series about Healthy Kansans because it embraces the discussion on health care financing. It is also interesting because of All's experiences in the political arena that led him to his current role as CEO of one of the state's largest health care insurers. He was involved with the proposed merger of Anthem and Blue Cross when he worked for Gov. Sebelius who turned down the merger. He said, "It became really clear to me at the beginning that this was an important office, and that Kansans sometimes in Show Morethe biggests moments of their lives need somebody to stand beside them. So, I was proud to do the work!" The largest part of the interview is a discussion on how health insurance works, how costs affect premiums, and what the options for the future hold. Despite the difficulties in finding ways to control costs, Mr. All is optimistic about the future. Show Less

Interview of Benjamin Anderson, May 7, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

Benjamin Anderson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System where he is responsible for the management, direction and coordination of all organization operations. He is a great story-teller and his personal story about his experiences getting into college and later gaining entry into the health care system shows his determination and creativity toward solving problems. He rescued failing Kansas rural hospitals in Ashland and Lakin by figuring out how to engage these communities and provide services that people needed. His story about organizing a basketball game to pay for mammograms for women Show Moreis inspiring and unusual. When asked if this was a role of a hospital administrator he replied, "It is the role of a leader." Anderson described his reaching out to Somalian immigrants who worked at Tyson's Food Processing plant. That outreach led to strategies to engage the community and deal with all sorts of community attitudes towards the immigrants. His philosophy was, "Pick one meaningful thing to measure that brings about meaningful change, lowers costs, and improves outcomes. Show them how you did it and they will run to you. Don't wait on the feds to solve your problems. You solve them." After spending six and a half years in rural southwest Kansas, Anderson made a decision to leave and work for the Colorado Hospital Association for four years in order to get specialized services for one of his children. He was recruited to come to Hutchinson because the hospital needed to make some changes. Anderson is now meeting those challenges with creativity and energy.

Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview

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Interview of Brenda Landwehr, May 5, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

Brenda Landwehr went to the Legislature to solve problems. She didn't shy away from the tough ones, either. "I've always been one of those people that it's like, put up or shut up. You can only complain so long." So, she "jumped in with both feet" to the Legislative Health Academy, learned a lot, and at the end of the day, the participants had a great dialogue. Brenda tackled foster care privatization, trying to get the judges to participate. She chaired the Mental Health Modernization Committee and the Joint Committee on Children's Issues. Show More Child behavioral health issues became a passion for her and she started a pilot program in six districts around Kansas. During her second stint in the legislature she was chairing important committees that dealt with the state budget and Medicaid. After 22 years of public service, Landwehr remains one of the most knowledgeable people about health policy issues. Her interview is a good read! Show Less

Interview of Kari Bruffett, May 5, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

This interview contains substantive discussions about health policy changes that have been occurring the last 25 years. Interviewer Bob St. Peter explores Bruffett's interesting career, mostly in Kansas, mostly in health policy, although she started in Washington DC working for Senator Nancy Kassebaum during her final two years in the Senate. Bruffett then joined the staff of newly elected Rep. Jerry Moran, but after 4 years was ready to return to Kansas. She worked with Koch Industries before becoming the Executive Director of the Kansas Republican Party for 4 years. She went to the University Show Moreof Kansas Hospital Authority which was in the middle of a huge transition and navigating its relationship with the medical school. After those years she turned to state government. working on numerous issues such as Medicaid expansion estimates and KanCare. She was asked to be Secretary of the Department for Aging and Disability Services - KDADS. She ended up at the Kansas Health Institute, following St. Peter after he retired. Show Less

Interview of Ed O'Malley and David Jordan, June 1, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

This joint interview of two foundation leaders should be of great interest to those interested in improving the Health of Kansans. Both their respective foundations believe strongly in "working upstream", a concept that is focused on preventing health problems before they occur. They state, "to improve Health, we need to change policies and systems" through advocacy, research, collaboration. That means changing the way we think about Health as well as "convening Kansans to build a shared vision for how we'd get there." They discussed "Health vs. healthcare" and Medicaid Expansion and why it hasn't happened in Show MoreKansas. One opinion (O'Malley) was changes in social structural supports and policies are changing the system dynamics. Jordan pointed out that his foundation (UMHMF) was focusing on thriving children, by putting food on the table, providing childcare. Kansas's fall in the national state-by-state health rankings prompted a lively discussion of Why? One possible solution was to reinstate the county health rankings to encourage more participation by local governments. Another deficit--the declining numbers of behavioral healthcare professionals--was attributed in part to the loss of Menninger with no state effort to counterbalance it. The interview concluded with a stimulating discussion of ideas and strategies that might help reverse the decline in Kansas' health ranking. Show Less

Interview of Matt Allen, Tom Nguyen, Atim Longa and Anthony Calderon, August 21, 2026

Interviewed by Robert St. Peter

This interview of four community leaders in Garden City is different from most of the interviews done in this series, first because it is a conversation among a group of people, and second, instead of talking about medical care or healthcare, they talked about things that are really important to how healthy Garden City is as a community. Participants are Matt Allen, current city manager of Garden City, Tom Nguyen, current Mayor and city commission member, Atim Longa, director of the Kansas Office for Refugees for the International Rescue Committee and Anthony Calderon, a wrestling coach and Show Morehighway patrolman. Their stories about how they came to Garden City are fascinating. Their accomplishments, working individually and together have made Garden City an innovative, welcoming place for a diverse population that has created economic growth for the area. Show Less