Five HCA Midwest Healthcare leaders named "Heroes in Healthcare" by Ingram's Magazine.

Overland Park, Kan. — Today, HCA Midwest Health, Kansas City’s largest healthcare provider, announced that five of its healthcare leaders have been named to Ingram’s 2025 Heroes in Healthcare class. The Kansas City business magazine’s annual feature highlights exemplary healthcare providers who go above and beyond in performing their jobs, drive innovation, and inspire growth and those around them. HCA Midwest Health is the Kansas City region’s largest healthcare provider with seven hospitals, ten emergency room locations, 15 CareNow urgent care clinics, and dozens of outpatient centers, clinics, physician practices, surgery centers, and a network of services to meet residents' healthcare needs. 

Darryl Nelson, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Centerpoint Medical Center, Independence; Nancy DeBasio, RN, PhD, Interim President of Research College of Nursing; Paige Baker, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Lee’s Summit Medical Center; Tiffany Crabtree, LSCSW, Social Worker, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, and Ashley Snow, CPHT-Adv, CSPT, Pharmacy Technician, Research Medical Center were chosen by an independent panel of judges. All nominees were considered for their impact on the community/volunteer service locally or abroad, professional and/or personal achievements, patient satisfaction awards and examples of how they live the Hippocratic Oath.  

“These five outstanding individuals care for our patients and our community and inspire their colleagues and each other,” said HCA Midwest Health President Keith Zimmerman. “They represent the broad spectrum of healthcare and how their individual roles make an extraordinary impact on future caregivers and providers, the patient experiences and patient outcomes, and the well-being of their colleagues and the community. We are proud their achievements are being recognized and celebrated.”

LIFETIME SERVICE

Darryl Nelson, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Centerpoint Medical Center, Independence

Darryl Nelson was still on the front nine of his career as a physician when he read “Crossing the Quality Chasm,” which offered a less-than-flattering look at the ways hospitals actually posed a threat to patients with things like lax infection control. It made an impression, and he raised a few concerns with his hospital’s CEO—who promptly redirected responsibility back. Thus, began a personal and professional journey that would lead the family physician into the health care leadership ranks as a chief medical officer, most recently with Centerpoint. “I said, ‘I’m a relatively young family doctor, just trying to take care of patients,”’ Nelson recalls. “He said, ‘No, you’re not; you can figure out how to make this better.”

Nancy DeBasio, RN, PhD, Interim President of Research College of Nursing, Kansas City

More than 50 years after she left graduate school—40 of them at Research College of Nursing—Nancy DeBasio undeniably has created a legacy in nursing education. But it’s not, she will tell you, the $36 million home the college will move into next year. “I bristle a bit about that suggestion because it’s been such a team effort,” she says of what’s gone into the 78,000-square-foot facility. “We all came together as faculty and staff and worked with HCA to design a building that would be state of the art but still committed to the growth and success of our students.”

That part—the growth and success of students—is her true legacy; in her decades at RNC, including 25 as president and two more after being called back into service two years ago, she’s ignited thousands of nursing careers and, by extension, touched uncountable numbers of patients nationwide.

AUXILLARY STAFF

Tiffany Crabtree, LSCSW, Social Worker, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, Overland Park

Work in a hospital setting is a study in psychological contrasts: Some patients are just starting a journey of hope and promise—and some will fall asleep for the last time. But even in the birthing centers, it’s not always sunshine and roses. Just ask Tiffany Crabtree, a perinatal social worker at OPRMC. “The challenges people face can range from perinatal mood disturbance, such as anxiety or depression, to homelessness, to substance dependency, to having a significantly premature baby, or a baby with a genetic condition which may not be compatible with life,” she says. “In other words, the challenges are as many and as complex as one could imagine.” In that setting, she tries to view things from a patient’s perspective. “That does not mean I know what others are going through, but it helps me listen to the information they are processing, or the situation they are going through with their baby, in a way that hopefully brings empathy, and from that brings a sense of caring and help,” she says. “Some people just need to be heard; some just need a friendly face checking on them and cheering them on. But others need to process very difficult emotions and decisions, or they need a connection to much-needed resources which allow them to fully participate in their baby’s care.”

NURSING

Paige Baker, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Lee’s Summit

The teacher isn’t always right. Just ask Paige Baker, chief nursing officer at Lee’s Summit Medical Center. Mentally rewinding the tape on her life, she pauses during her senior year of high school in Lone Jack, where she was able to take a community college course led by a teacher who insisted that young Paige needed to become a physician. “I said ‘no, I want to be with the patients,”’ Baker recalls. “And it’s been a very good choice for me, providing very good care with all the lives I’ve been able to touch.” Right out of high school, she headed to Saint Luke’s College of Nursing, snagged her degree, then headed to Research Medical Center for 20 years, followed by more than 10 in Lee’s Summit. “I spent my 21st birthday on the night shift, taking care of patients in the crucial-care unit,” she recalls. It was an early step on a caregiving path that would eventually allow her to extend her reach as chief nursing officer. “I got into leadership because I always wanted to be looking for solutions instead of focusing on problems,” she says. “How we make things better excites me; finding solutions and helping health care become more patient-friendly and family-friendly, helping staff improve patients’ lives—not just treating the symptoms that brought them to us, but improving their lives overall.”

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Ashley Snow, CPHT-Adv, CSPT, Pharmacy Technician, Research Medical Center, Kansas City

Years have passed since that day, but Ashley Snow still remembers what the young breast-cancer patient was wearing when they met before her chemotherapy. “That’s how vivid a memory it is,” says Snow, a pharmacy technician manager for Research Medical Center. “I shook her hand, and her mother who was there hugged me—it was the most humbling experience I’ve had in my entire life,” Snow says. “And that experience changed me. I wanted more than anything to be sure that everything was absolutely perfect for this woman, and in that moment, I realized—even though I’m not generally patient-facing—how important this work was in taking care of people.” 

The honorees’ complete features can be found at 2025 Heroes in Healthcare in the current issue of Ingram’s magazine. They will be recognized later this month at a breakfast hosted by Ingram’s.