Sarah Richardson, Chief Information Officer (CIO), HCA Midwest Health System, has been named as a Kansas City Business Journal 2014 NextGen Leader. The NextGen Leaders is an innovative program designed to celebrate the accomplishments of the honorees as well as to give them exposure to the present generation of area leaders and help them build connections with each other and with future NextGen classes. Richardson is regarded as a dynamic and results-oriented leader who enhances the quality patient care tradition of Kansas City’s leading healthcare provider, helping the organization adapt to the ever-changing and complex business landscape.
Richardson began her HCA career in 2005 in the Far West Division in Las Vegas, Nev. She moved to the healthcare leader’s corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. in 2007 and relocated to Kansas City in 2010 when she assumed the role of CIO.
Richardson’s appointment to the 2014 NextGen program comes as no surprise to the HCA Midwest Health System executives who work alongside her.
“Sarah Richardson is an exemplary employee who personifies the excellence of HCA Midwest Health System,” says M.L. Lagarde III, President, HCA Midwest Health System. “Anyone who has worked with Sarah can tell you she is very driven and passionate — not just about work, but also about her community. That is a key value for HCA Midwest Health System as we build our future leaders.”
“Sarah consistently thinks outside the box of her job description, and characterizes a NextGen Leader,” says Clifton Mills, Chief Financial Officer, HCA Midwest Health System. “Earning this award further validates Sarah’s strategic vision of using technology to significantly and positively impact business performance and commitment to addressing the complex coordination necessary to improve the quality of patient care. We are also proud that Sarah’s efforts in our community have been recognized with this well-deserved honor.”
As CIO, Richardson helps HCA Midwest Health System attain criteria-driven objective measures by effectively partnering with frontline caregivers to develop and launch innovative products and services that help earn patients’ trust and helps attract and retain some of the best and brightest healthcare professionals, physicians and employees in the Kansas City region.
Richardson previously served as Director of Field Operations at HCA corporate headquarters in Nashville where she implemented models that helped strengthen the customer service experience and demographic-driven business needs fulfillment. In addition, Richardson has worked as Division Information Security Official for the Far West Division of HCA, Henderson, Nev.; and Director, Information Services & Technology, HCA’s Mountain View Hospital, Las Vegas, Nev.
“I am thrilled for this recognition of my work with HCA Midwest Health System and in the community and honored to be named among this group of such highly accomplished young business leaders,” Richardson says.
Richardson completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the MBA program through the University of Phoenix. In 2010 she also attended the Scarlett Leadership Institute Executive Program. In 2014 Richardson was named as a KC Business Magazine and as a Kansas City Business Journal 25 Women Who Mean Business.