Web posted
Friday, January 6, 2006
Magner named hospital director
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
Carla Magner learned to say "yes" to work changes early in her career as a health care professional in the Arkansas City hospital. She accepted each challenge, working as a nurse in general care, surgery intensive care, obstetrics and later as the facility's risk manager and quality improvement officer.
Rising to each of these challenges has paid off for Magner, who recently was named director of operations for South Central Kansas Regional Medical Center. She replaces Joe Jirinec, who announced his retirement as the hospital's chief executive officer in November.
"I just learned early you have to be willing to accept the responsibilities and opportunities as they come," Magner said today. "Otherwise, you don't continue to gain skills and knowledge."
Magner, 53, joined SCKRMC in 1978 as a bedside nurse. Except for one eight-month period early on when she was suffering from "burn-out," she has remained at the medical center ever since.
Her job became official on Jan. 1.
"It's a challenge, but I think the positions of responsibility I've had, particularly working in this hospital, have prepared me for the challenge," she said.
High on her list of priorities as the new hospital director will be continuing to provide good patient care and working to build a replacement hospital two miles north of town.
Magner, a native of Kay County, Okla., said she has been committed to the building a replacement facility.
But the current hospital facility, built 50 years ago, is not designed for today's health care, she said. The aging, three-story facility is too inefficient, she added.
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