John McDonald
Chief Executive Officer
John McDonald has led as Chief Executive Officer of Centerpoint Medical Center since January 2024.
Previous to leading Centerpoint Medical Center, John McDonald served as Chief Executive Officer at Lee’s Summit Medical Center since 2018. During his five-year tenure as CEO of Lee’s Summit Medical Center, John oversaw numerous growth and capital investment initiatives. These include launching the hospital’s orthopedic spine and neurosurgery service lines; adding two DaVinci robotic systems, which tripled the hospital’s surgical volume; adding a hybrid operating room, which more than doubled the vascular surgical service line’s volume; and facilitating a new joint-venture surgery center, which is currently under development. More importantly, though, Lee’s Summit Medical Center has improved its quality rankings and achieved top quartile rankings in employee and physician engagement among all HCA Healthcare facilities under John’s leadership.
Before joining HCA Midwest Health, John served for three years as Chief Operating Officer of Corpus Christi Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, part of HCA’s Gulf Coast Division. Prior to that, he worked in several leadership roles for hospitals in Amarillo and Houston, Texas.
A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, John was named a 2020 NextGen Leader by the Kansas City Business Journal. He currently serves on the boards for the Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce and Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council and is a member of the Lee’s Summit Rotary Club. John earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Houston.
Dr. Darryl Nelson
Chief Medical Officer
Darryl K. Nelson, MD, is a board-certified family medicine physician who has taken care of Lee’s Summit families for more than 20 years. A smalltown physician with an old-fashioned bedside manner and a drive to advance the quality of medical care. Dr. Nelson was named Centerpoint’s Chief Medical Officer in 2018. Previously he served as the Chief Medical Officer for HCA Midwest Health. Dr. Nelson has been instrumental in leading HCA Midwest Health System’s ambulatory electronic medical record (EMR) development and launch in Kansas City and has served as the national senior medical director for the ambulatory EMR initiative for HCA.
Dr. Nelson received his medical degree from the University Of Missouri - Kansas City School Of Medicine and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians and the Kansas City Academy of Family Physicians
Dan Astleford
Chief Operating Officer
Dan Astleford is the Chief Operating Officer for Centerpoint Medical Center. In this role, he provides executive oversight of hospital ancillary and support functions, service line development, ethics and compliance, and campus construction. Some of Dan’s accomplishments include expanding cardiovascular, neurosurgical, oncology service lines, increasing employee and physician engagement, and enhancing patient care and satisfaction. Dan became COO of Centerpoint Medical Center in 2019. Dan holds a B.B.A in Health Services Administration from the University of South Dakota and both a Master of Business Administration and Masters of Health Administration from the University of Iowa.
Zachary Riggins
Chief Financial Officer
Zach Riggins was named Chief Financial Officer of Centerpoint Medical Center in November of 2023. Prior to Centerpoint Medical Center, Zach served as CFO for HCA Florida Citrus Hospital, where his responsibilities included financial oversight, capital deployment, throughput supervision and management of several key functional areas. During his time there, the facility saw improved financial metrics and margin growth, more than doubled the size of its GME program, and achieved division-leading results for productivity and reducing length of stay for ED patients.
Prior to this role, Zach worked for multiple HCA Healthcare facilities in Virginia, Indiana and Tennessee in such positions as associate CFO, controller, assistant controller and staff accountant. In these positions, Zach gained a breadth of financial management, strategic planning and operational experience overseeing various service lines, expansion projects, staff recruitment and retention efforts, and process and productivity improvement initiatives.
A University of Tennessee alum, Zach earned two bachelor’s degrees – one in accounting and one in finance – and an MBA from the university. He is also a certified public accountant.
Suzanne Ford
Chief Nursing Officer
Suzanne Ford, Chief Nursing Officer, RN, MSN joined Centerpoint Medical Center in 2022. As Centerpoint’s Chief Nursing Officer, Suzanne provides executive nursing leadership to over 600 nurses. From 2018 to 2022, Suzanne served as HCA Midwest Health Division Vice President of Nursing Operations where she created and implemented a 1st Year Nursing Graduate program, introduced LPN and Patient Safety Attendant (PSA) alternative care models, and successfully led nursing operations during the pandemic, among other accomplishments. Suzanne holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of San Diego, a B.S.N from Galen College of Nursing, and a Masters in Health Administration from Webster University
Board of Trustees
- Brad Speaks — President/CEO Speaks Family Legacy Chapels
- Bret Kolman — CEO, Centerpoint Medical Center
- Dr. Alan Schneider — Physician, Midwest Heart and Vascular Specialists
- Randy Castle — President, Central Bank of the Midwest
- Zach Walker — City Manager of Independence, MO
- Dr. Christie Brock — Physician, Advanced Surgical Associates
- Tracey Mershon — Co-Owner, Mershon & McDonald
- Carson Ross — Mayor, Blue Springs
- Cindy McClain — President, McClain Restaurant Group/CRM Stores
- Latrece Holloway — Nurse Practitioner
- Dr. Jeffrey Krempec — Physician, Orthopedic Health of KC; President of Medical Staff