I grew up in Missouri 30 miles south of Kansas City. I was born in Cass County Hospital in Harrisonville, Missouri. The name of the hospital is unique due to the fact that it is owned by Cass County. Since I was born, the hospital has been rebuilt and modernize twice in my lifetime. Today Cass County Hospital, by comparison to the Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea campus, is rated as good as, (if not better) medical center servicing the needs of the patients it serves.

Cass Regional Medical Center is owned by Cass County, and the organization is governed by a five-member board of trustees. The trustees are elected by the citizens of Cass County, and one trustee is newly elected each year. Listed below are the current trustees: Toni Wiseman, Amy Catron, Chris Kurzweil, Danny Carmichael and Katy Crabtree.

Leadership team

The organization is led by a five-member leadership team, which includes J. Christopher Lang, MHA, FACHE, chief executive officer; Twila Buckner, RN, MSN, MBA, NE-BC, chief nursing officer; Brent Probasco, certified public accountant and chief financial officer; Patty Land, MBA, administrative director of practice management; and Sonya McLelland, MA, CFRE, administrative director of foundation, marketing and public relations.

Our fate is in the hands of our leaders at the city and county level. In order to save our hospital, we very well may need to build from the ground up. For more information on Cass County Regional Medical Center, visit https://www.cassregional.org/.

George Gillespie

Albert Lea