How NMC Health’s Emergency Department Expansion Transformed Staff Culture and Collaboration
The Kansas Hospital Association appreciates the opportunity to highlight workforce strategies that honor employees, providers or volunteers who make significant contributions to the well-being, retention or recruitment of health care workers at their facility. Thank you to NMC Health for sharing their strategies.
When NMC Health identified a rare ARPA-funded opportunity through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Rural Health Innovations Grant, the project quickly became more than a construction effort—it became a workforce strategy. With only 14 months to design, fund and complete a major emergency department expansion, NMC Health used the moment to engage its people, strengthen cross-departmental relationships and build a more agile, collaborative workforce culture.
“This project was absolutely a workforce goal,” said Val Gleason, President and CEO of NMC Health. “We had to put pedal to the metal and move as one big unit. That’s what made it successful.”
To meet the aggressive timeline, NMC Health built a multidisciplinary steering group that functioned like an incident command center—a model the workforce already understood from emergency preparedness training. This structure became the backbone of the project’s workforce strategy.
“We appointed a core team to steer the project,” Gleason said. “Directors from nursing, registration, environmental services, infection control, hospital executives and our grant manager were all at the table. Then we brought in subject-matter experts as needed. People moved in and out seamlessly.”
That fluidity strengthened organizational trust and highlighted staff capability. As Gleason noted, “It worked really well. It let people see each other’s strengths across departments.”
Years of internal emphasis on project-management skills paid off when staff suddenly had to apply them on a massive scale.
“One of the most helpful things was that we had already taught project management as part of our leadership curriculum,” Gleason said. “The architects didn’t have to coach us. We could speak a common language.”
Staff who previously managed smaller projects were now part of a systemwide effort—expanding the psychiatric care area, adding a fast-track zone and doubling chemical decontamination capacity while keeping the emergency department fully functional. The experience strengthened confidence, accountability and interdisciplinary problem-solving.
The project also sparked a new level of employee ownership. With two-thirds of funding needing to come from local dollars, staff engagement in the employee giving campaign became its own workforce achievement.
Gleason shared one memorable moment: a staff nurse who had previously worked in another profession was meeting with the Development Director about her financial gift for the project. She said, “I’m happy to give.” She paused a moment and then said, “I just realized I’m a philanthropist! I’ve always dreamed of being a philanthropist!” Moments like that showed how deeply the workforce believed in this project.
One hundred percent of administration and the board participated, along with significant numbers of staff, physicians and community supporters.
The resulting space not only improves patient flow—it improves the work environment. Staff benefit from quieter zones, clearer workflows, safer registration areas and more efficient throughput.
“Our efficiency is up, our left-without-being-seen rate is down and the whole hospital feels calmer and more coordinated,” Gleason said. “This project strengthened our workforce. We see what we’re capable of – together.”
What began as a tight deadline became a defining workforce success, proving that when NMC Health’s employees unite around a shared mission, they can build far more than a new ED—they can build a stronger culture.