Communications

(Oct. 11, 2024) – The Kansas Hospital Association was founded in 1910 to serve Kansas hospitals. It accomplishes this through its efforts and subsidiary organizations under the larger KHA entity, including the Kansas Health Service Corporation. This year marks the 40th anniversary of KHSC being a valuable resource to Kansas hospitals.

KHSC was formed on Nov. 8, 1984, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Kansas Hospital Association. Its purposes then and today are twofold: to be a valuable resource for Kansas hospitals and to support the association's efforts. Initially, KHSC was primarily focused on providing insurance options for hospitals. As such, it was a licensed insurance agency focusing on medical malpractice, property, and directors and officers insurance. It accomplished much of this work through a relationship with the Double Eagle Insurance agency.

Larry Shaffer served as the first CEO of KHSC and was instrumental in launching it. Through Larry's vision, KHSC formed the KHA Workers' Compensation Fund in 1991 to help meet the need for workers' compensation coverage for hospitals in Kansas. Following Larry's retirement in 2002 and an interim leadership period by Tom Bell, Steve Poage took over as CEO in 2004.

The following 20 years of KHSC included many changes. An opportunity arose for KHSC and KHA to more closely align with KAMMCO and the Kansas Medical Society. As such, the insurance agency business was sold to Double Eagle in 2009, and KHSC focused on finding unique insurance partnerships that would enhance the value to KHA members. This included KAMMCO for medical malpractice, Chubb (property), and Cincinnati (D&O), with the latter two being offered through a relationship with the Conrade Insurance Group.

Meanwhile, KHSC expanded its service lines in other areas. It added endorsed vendors in areas such as language translation services, credit card processing, equipment service contracts and employee benefits. In each of these areas, the KHSC staff and board carefully reviewed new vendor opportunities to ensure that the value of the services provided assisted Kansas hospitals and enhanced KHA's ability to meet member needs.

Regarding supporting KHA, it is estimated that KHSC has provided more than $10,000,000 to KHA in direct and indirect support since its inception. These resources have allowed KHA to bring in high-quality conference speakers, support advocacy efforts and reduce the association's administrative overhead. This has kept KHA member dues lower than they would otherwise have been to support the association's work.

Thank you to all our members who support KHSC, and happy 40th anniversary to our subsidiary KHSC.
--Chad Austin