Honors and Awards

People to Know

Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer and MH Medical Director Kenna Belshe, DO, was named in the Kansas City Business Journal’s ongoing series 20 to Know. The Business Journal describes the series as a way to introduce readers to leaders in key industries.

Dr. Belshe joined NKCH and MH as CCO in 2020. She oversees quality improvement initiatives and outcomes for the system’s inpatient and outpatient services. In the past four years, Dr. Belshe has helped our system expand both services and employed physician staff, while increasing provider engagement to improve access, quality and outcomes.

Women Leaders of Kansas

Director of Radiology and Radiation Oncology Ashlyn Hull, MS, Ed, Rt(R)(CT), was named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Kansas 2024 by Women We Admire, a professional organization.
Ashlyn manages the daily operations, strategic planning and financial management for imaging services across NKCH, including the Radiation Oncology department and two off-campus imaging centers. Ashlyn joined NKCH and MH in 2022.

Platinum Level Health KC Certified

The Kansas City Chamber of Commerce awarded NKCH and MH Platinum Level Healthy KC Certified for the fourth time. This is the highest level of recognition within the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Healthy KC Workplace Wellness Certification. 

NKCH and MH employee programs such as the on-site fitness center, on-site vaccinations, in-person community wellness classes and an on-demand archive of hundreds of health education videos all played a role in helping the system maintain its platinum status.

NKCH’s culture of wellness encourages employees to focus on mental stability, physical endurance, financial stability, nutritional value, and overall health.

Best Employers

NKCH and MH climbed in its rankings of best employers in Missouri on Forbes’ latest list. The health system ranked No. 16 on Forbes Best Employers by State, moving up four spots from last year. This marks the fourth time in five years that NKCH and MH have appeared on the prestigious list. NKCH and MH is one of only four health systems on the list and second in the Kansas City area.

The health system was also ranked No. 63 nationally on the Forbes Best Employers For Women list. Only 51 hospitals appear on this list of 600 companies. These employers were recognized for placing women in leadership roles, closing the gender wage gap and nurturing a more equitable environment for women.

To develop the Best Employers by State list, Forbes worked with the market research firm Statista, who surveyed more than 16,000 employees across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. at companies with at least 500 employees. Participants were asked to rank how likely they were to recommend their employer and to evaluate them. Only 75 companies were selected in each state.

In building the Best Employers for Women list, Forbes also worked with Statista, surveying more than 150,000 women at companies with at least 1,000 employees in the United States. Participants were asked about the working environment, pay equity, parental leave, handling of sexual misconduct and discrimination and if they would recommend the employer. 

Best-in-State

Newsweek named NKCH and MH among the Top 3 best-in-state Missouri hospitals in the Kansas City area. Sixteen Missouri hospitals made Newsweek’s Best-in-State 2025 list.
In building the Best-in-State Hospitals 2025 list, Newsweek worked with the market research firm Statista. They used quality metrics from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), data from the AHA Annual Survey of Hospitals Database, findings from HCAHPS patient experience surveys, and responses from a voluntary Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) implementation survey.