Executive Leadership

Steve Reintjes Sr., MD

President, Chief Executive Officer

Steve became the president and chief executive officer of North Kansas City Hospital and its physician network subsidiary, Meritas Health, in May 2020.

He is a well-respected neurosurgeon and has been an engaged member of the NKCH medical staff for 30 years. During that time, Steve has held numerous executive leadership positions, including director of spine surgery and medical staff president.

Steve graduated from Rockhurst High School. He earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Kenna Belshe, DO

Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer & MH Medical Director

As Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer and Meritas Health Medical Director, Dr. Kenna Belshe focuses on quality improvement initiatives and quality outcomes across our system, including both inpatient and outpatient services. Dr. Belshe earned her medical degree from Kansas City University and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is board certified in internal medicine.

Before becoming CCO, Dr. Belshe served as the medical director of North Kansas City Hospital’s Case Management Department. Prior to that role, she was a hospitalist with Meritas Health Hospitalists for 11 years. Before becoming a hospitalist, she practiced internal medicine in Excelsior Springs, MO. She is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Case Management Association, the Association of Physician Leadership in Case Management, the National Association of Healthcare Quality, the Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society, the Northland Healthcare Access board, and the Northwest Area Health Education Centers Advisory Board.

Dawn Bryant

Vice President, Human Resources

Dawn oversees the Human Resources Department, including recruitment, compensation, benefits, and employee relations. Dawn holds a B.S. in Education from the University of Kansas and an M.S. in Evaluative Clinical Sciences from Dartmouth College. She worked as a human resources leader in managed health care and two hospital systems before joining NKCH in 2015.

Amy Crawford

Vice President, Revenue Cycle

Amy provides financial leadership for the health system in her oversight of NKCH Revenue Cycle operations, including Hospital Scheduling, Patient Access, Revenue Integrity, Patient Financial Services, and Physician Revenue for Meritas Health. She’s also responsible for leading the organization’s efforts around Managed Care activities. Before joining NKCH in October 2019, Amy worked in various healthcare revenue cycle leadership roles, most recently spending 12 years at Children’s Mercy Hospital. She also serves on the board of directors for the Northland Health Care Access.

She earned her master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Darla Easley

Vice President, Quality and Care Optimization

As Vice President of Quality and Care Optimization, Darla oversees North Kansas City Hospital’s quality care improvement efforts and outcomes by guiding the hospital through regulatory processes, certifications, and ongoing performance improvement. She oversees the Case Management, Health Information Management, Infection Prevention and Performance Improvement departments.

Darla joined NKCH as a graduate nurse and has served in a variety of bedside and leadership roles during her tenure, most recently as the senior director of Case Management and administrator of Orthopedic/Spine co-management.

She earned her master’s in nursing from Mid-America Nazarene University.

Richard Green

Senior Vice President, Meritas Health Corporation

Rick manages Meritas Health’s provider network and develops strategies for operational growth, which includes continuous quality improvement of patient care, safety and satisfaction. He brings more than 25 years of healthcare management experience. He most recently served as director of primary care operations for a multispecialty medical group in Tampa, Florida, where he was responsible for 240 primary care providers.

Rick earned a master’s degree in business administration from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Kristen Guillaume

Vice President, Chief Information Officer

Kristen joined NKCH as Vice President and Chief Information Officer in September 2018. With more than 20 years of experience in information services and healthcare technology, Kristen provides oversight and direction for clinical and administrative information technology priorities across the enterprise, ensuring advancements create value and support the hospital’s goals.

Prior to joining NKCH, Kristen held several leadership roles at Cerner and Netsmart.

Kristen earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rockhurst University.

Kerri Jenkins

Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer

Kerri joined NKCH as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in February 2019. With more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, she leads the hospital’s business operations and constantly strives to develop services that can positively enhance patient care.

Before joining NKCH, Kerri was the executive VP/COO at SSM-St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City, MO; COO at Abrazo West in Goodyear, AZ; and chief nursing officer at Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission, TX.

Austin Jones

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Austin oversees NKCH’s strategic and operational financial services, which includes financial planning, management and reporting, revenue cycle, supply chain management, the employee retirement plan and the hospital’s general investments. Before joining our organization in 2021, he served in healthcare financial leadership roles at several Texas-based healthcare systems.

Jennifer Kozinn, JD

Vice President, General Counsel

Jennifer manages all aspects of legal services for NKCH and Meritas Health Corporation. In addition, she oversees Compliance, Risk Management and Employee Health. She also frequently works with physicians in matters of contracting and compliance.

Sarah Oakley

Vice President, Chief Nursing Officer

Sarah is responsible for the overall management of nursing practice, nursing education, professional development, nursing research, nursing administration and nursing services. Areas of responsibility include all inpatient units – critical care, medical surgical, telemetry, rehab and obstetrics. She is also accountable for outpatient areas including surgical services, emergency services, cardiology/neurology, GI lab, pain management and outpatient infusion, fatigue management and home health services.

Scott Poague

Vice President, Supply Chain Services

Scott oversees Purchasing, Central Services, Storeroom and Logistics, the Print Shop and Value Analysis. He joined NKCH in March 2020, bringing 30 years of supply chain leadership, value analysis and department transformation experience to the hospital.

Prior to joining NKCH, Scott held leadership positions at Truman Medical Center and Mosaic Life Care. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance at the University of Colorado.

Nic Riesenberg

Vice President, Facilities

Nic leads Facilities Engineering, Design & Construction, Property Management and Environmental Services. He joined NKCH in 2019 as director of Design & Construction and most recently served as the hospital’s interim vice president of Facilities Engineering. Nic has more than 15 years of experience working in healthcare organizations. Before joining NKCH, he was director of Facilities Engineering at Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, MD, and served as the design and construction manager at The University of Kansas Health System. He earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix after completing a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering from Iowa State University.

Rob Schlicht

Vice President, Professional Services

Prior to joining North Kansas City Hospital in July 2019, Rob gained over 20 years of healthcare management experience working for several healthcare organizations. He earned his master’s degree in physical therapy from Rockhurst University after completing his bachelor’s degree in finance and banking at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Steven Starr, MD, FACC

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Starr is an American College of Cardiology fellow and is certified in cardiovascular disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He attended medical school at the University of Kansas, completing his residency, internship and fellowship at KU. He has been in practice at Meritas Health Cardiology since 1994 and was honored as one of Kansas City’s top doctors last fall by Ingram’s Magazine.