KFMC prides itself on working with a diverse group of people who represent all aspects of healthcare, from clinical to consumer. The KFMC Board of Trustees consists of multiple professional perspectives of healthcare, providing a dynamic and well-rounded group of thought leaders.
KFMC prides itself on working with a diverse group of people who represent all aspects of healthcare from clinical to consumer. The KFMC Board of Trustees consists of multiple professional perspectives of healthcare which provides a dynamic and well-rounded group of thought leaders. Board members include:
Michael D. Apley, DVM, PhD, DACVCP
Olsburg, KS
Dr. Apley is a second generation Kansas veterinarian with experience in a general rural practice and a food animal production medicine/contract research organization practice. His PhD is in physiology with an emphasis on clinical pharmacology, completing credentials for the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology in 1994. Dr. Apley has served on the faculty in the colleges of veterinary medicine at Iowa State University and, most recently, Kansas State University where he remains today as a professor in veterinary clinical sciences, teaching professional students and mentoring graduate students in production medicine and clinical pharmacology. Dr. Apley’s research focuses on antibiotic efficacy and resistance as well as antibiotic use monitoring in food animals, recognizing the challenges of data interoperability and achieving the necessary granularity to support continual improvements in antibiotic stewardship. The component of human behavior related to antibiotic stewardship is also an area of focus. His appreciation for the interaction of animal and human health has been enhanced by involvement in the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB) for two terms as a voting member and as a member of the Kansas Healthcare Acquired Infection/Antimicrobial Resistance Advisory Group. Dr. Apley has a deep respect for specialty and practitioner organizations, having served as president of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, and the Academy of Veterinary Consultants.
Kate Conrad, LFACHE
Overland Park, KS
With 30 years’ experience in healthcare management and strategy – including executive leadership roles at Children’s Hospital Association – Kate has supported the needs of community hospitals, academic medical centers, physician practices and more. In addition, she served on the “Safer Together: A National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety” subcommittee, as well as several planning committees for national healthcare quality and safety conferences.
Linda Farrar, BSN, LNH
Fairview, TX
Linda Farrar has dedicated her professional career to providing elders in senior living centers with quality of life and quality of care. Linda received her BSN from The University of Iowa and her post-graduate Licensed Adult Care Home Administrator education from Kansas University. Linda has served in the roles of administrator, Executive Director, Executive Management and Chief Operating Officer. In July, 2011, Linda retired from her full-time position to enable her the time to enhance her work with elders in a consulting role. During her career, Linda’s passion has been person-centered/person-directed care. Linda believes that through education of staff, primarily direct-care staff, facilities can provide both quality of care and thus remain regulatorily compliant AND provide quality of life, providing enhanced, personal experiences for elders served. Linda has facilitated two different facilities in winning the PEAK Award on 4 different occasions since 2002. Linda has spoken at the national Pioneer Network annual meeting about implementing universal workers in a long term care setting. Linda is a Kansas-approved Certified Activity Director instructor, and a certified ELNEC (End of Life Nursing Education Consortium). In the recent past, Linda has presented webinars for Kansas Health Care Association, Missouri Health Care Association and the Nebraska Health Care Association on the Rules of Participation. Linda’s passion is the provision of caring, compassionate care for elders residing in long term care facilities.
Thomas A. Hintz, CPA, CPMA, PFS
(Non-voting Ex Officio Member)
Manhattan, KS
Mr. Hintz has more than 40 years of experience in auditing, tax and business consulting. He is currently involved in several organizations and boards in the Manhattan community.
Robert Huebner, PhD
Liberty, MO
Dr. Huebner is an experienced biotechnology program manager with over thirty years of research experience with viral and microbiological pathogens and expertise in the vaccine industry, group management, and program management. Throughout his career, he has worked for a variety of organizations, large pharma companies, government agencies, and a contract research organization, holding positions of increasing responsibility at each. At the Latham BioPharm Group (LBG), he supports both commercial and US Government funded programs as a subject matter expert on biopharmaceutical development, analytics and program management. He also leads efforts to help clients win and secure non-dilutive US Government funding. Prior to joining LBG, Dr. Huebner worked at the Biomedical Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services where he held several positions including Acting Director of the Influenza Division, Deputy Director and Chief of Universal Influenza Vaccine Development. While serving as Acting Director, he was responsible for over 50 programs valued in excess of $5 billion. His tenure in this position was highlighted by the licensure of three new types of influenza vaccines, and approval of a new near patient diagnostic platform for influenza and RSV. Prior to BARDA, working at MRIGlobal, Dr. Huebner grew the client base for the biotechnology section he managed, bringing in projects from US Government and industrial clients to work on vaccines, detection methods and destruction methods for bacterial and viral pathogen. Dr. Huebner started his career as a bench scientist and group leader at Sanofi Pasteur working on applied research to develop new and improved vaccines against Lyme disease, influenza, Dengue, Japanese Encephalitis, malaria and pneumococcal disease. Dr. Huebner received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from Tufts University in Boston, MA and a B.S. in Biology from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
Sarah Irsik–Good, MHA
President & Chief Executive Officer
Sarah leverages nearly two decades of experience in the healthcare delivery system, furthering KFMC’s mission and bringing extensive experience in regulatory compliance, performance improvement, and operational leadership to her role. Sarah has worked in almost every healthcare delivery setting, including acute care (both PPS and CAH), long term care, behavioral health, and ambulatory care. Prior to her appointment as CEO, Sarah served as Director of Quality Improvement and then Vice President for KFMC, providing technical direction and operational leadership for the Medicare quality improvement work across Kansas.
Ashley Papenberg, MHA, RN, ACM-RN
Tonganoxie, KS
Ashley Papenberg is the Vice President of Care Management and Patient/Family Services at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Prior to Children’s team, she served as Director of Population Health at Saint Luke’s Health System. Ashley practiced bedside as a registered nurse with both pediatric and adult populations. As an experienced healthcare leader, Ashley has a history and passion for driving innovation and transformation across multi-disciplinary teams. She previously led Saint Luke’s in efforts around Ambulatory Care Coordination, Primary Care Transformation, quality alignment with payor contracts, and integration of new healthcare delivery models and systems. Ashley holds a Dual Bachelor’s Degree from The University of Kansas in Human Biology and Applied Behavioral Science, a Bachelor’s in Nursing from Research College of Nursing, and a Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Des Moines University. Ashley is currently pursing a Doctorate in Public Health Leadership from the University of Illinois – Chicago. Ashley is a Kansas City native and has a passion for improving the health of her community by providing patients with wellness and prevention tools well before they enter into sick care.
Gianfranco Pezzino, MD, MPH
Topeka, Kansas
Dr. Pezzino has worked in public health in several countries for 40 years. He obtained his medical degree magna cum laude at the University of Bologna, Italy, and his Master’s degree in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2022, he retired from his position as senior fellow at the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) in Topeka, Kansas, where over a period of 18 years, he managed a variety of projects, including supporting local health departments in preparation for national accreditation and leading a national project to generate and disseminate knowledge on shared governance models for public health departments. Dr. Pezzino was also the director of the Center for Sharing Public Health Services, a program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and hosted by the Kansas Health Institute. He was a leader at the state and national levels in the area of public health system modernization, working to identify and implement the best public health policies, programs, and practices to improve health outcomes in Kansas and elsewhere. Prior to joining KHI, Dr. Pezzino served in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service program and later was the State Epidemiologist with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for almost ten years. Dr. Pezzino is a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and is Past President of the national Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. During his career, Dr. Pezzino has served on a variety of task forces, committees, and national workgroups and has testified in front of both state and federal government bodies. Between January 2007 and December 2020, Dr. Pezzino also functioned as county health officer for Shawnee County, leading the first year of response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Pezzino has obtained a certificate in evaluation practice from The Evaluators Institute, a program offered by the George Washington University. He lives in Topeka with his wife of over 30 years.
Arlo Reimer, MD, Board Chair
Herington, KS
Dr. Reimer currently practices at Herington Municipal Hospital. He has practiced full spectrum family medicine in a 25 bed Critical Access Hospital for over 19 years. Dr. Reimer finished a master’s degree in Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College in 2017 and has interests in quality improvement and healthcare delivery in the rural setting.
Deborah Frye Stern, RN, JD
Topeka, KS
Ms. Stern is a registered nurse and an attorney who recently retired from the Kansas Hospital Association (KHA) where she served as senior vice president of clinical services, general counsel and corporate compliance officer. In her role, she assisted hospitals with clinical and regulatory issues and oversaw all legal services for the association and its family of corporations. Prior to joining KHA, she was an attorney at the Alderson Law Firm and worked at Stormont Vail Regional Medical Center in the areas of nurse recruitment, home health, peer review, Joint Commission accreditation and nursing quality improvement. She holds degrees in nursing and psychology, is a 1998 graduate of the Washburn University School of Law and is past president of the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka. Ms. Stern is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania and moved to Kansas in 1977 to work as a registered nurse at the Menninger Foundation.
David Voran, MD
Kansas City, MO
David Voran, M.D. is the Associate Professor and Informatics Director of Community and Family Medicine at Truman Medical Center and Medical Director, Family Medicine Center–Truman Medical Center, Lakewood. Prior to joining Truman Medical Center, Dr. Voran was Medical Director of the Innovation Clinic at Heartland Health now Mosaic Life Care (2006-2013), Physician Executive for Cerner Corporation (2003-2006), CMIO for Health Midwest (1997-2003) and Executive Director of Information Technology at the University of Kansas Medical Center (1994-1997). Over the last 6 years, Dr. Voran has piloted various workflows and technologies with emphasis on putting as much technology in the primary care physician’s exam room as possible. He is a strong believer in patient engagement and patient-directed care. He has aggressively used the patient portal, promoted point-of-care imaging and believes that, until the patient is the primary user of the EMR, medical organizations will not fully realize the power of the clinical information systems in which they are now investing. He provides medical content expertise to a number of startup companies in the greater Kansas City area. Most recently, he developed and maintained a Residency Dashboard with emphasis on Quality Metrics designed to help physicians and patients close care gaps at the point of care. Dr. Voran received his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the Wichita State University in 1974. He earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1988 and post-graduate degree from University of Kansas – Family Practice in 1991. He is Board Certified in Family Practice and is an active member of the American Academy of Family Practice and was a member of the Academy’s ad hoc Committee on Electronic Medical Record. Dr. Voran is active in a number of professional organizations and is a past president for the Heart of America chapter of HIMSS and is a Medical Director for CVS Minute Clinics in the Kansas City area.
Glenda Washington
Topeka, KS
Glenda Washington came to the Greater Topeka Partnership, formally known as GO Topeka, in October of 2013 as the Vice President of Entrepreneurial and Minority Business Development and Small Business. She was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2017 where she oversees entrepreneurial and minority business development programs, small business programs and M02022 East Topeka Council for Shawnee County. She facilitates the Kauffman Fast Trac program for the Greater Topeka Partnership. She has over 25 years of providing services to and advocating for small businesses. Prior to leaving Jacksonville, Glenda was the National Multicultural Accounts Director for Visit Jacksonville. Glenda was employed at the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce (Jacksonville, Florida) as the Director of Small and Minority Business Development and later promoted to Senior Director of Economic Inclusion. She also served as the Procurement and Technical Assistance Center Manager. Glenda received a Bachelor of Science in Workforce, Education, and Development from Southern Illinois University, a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. Glenda is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville, Regional Leadership Jacksonville, and the Jacksonville Political Leadership Institute. She has also graduated from the Economic Development Institute and attended Chamber Leadership Institute.
