Mahaska Health Celebrates Hospital Week
Nurse Practitioner Gayle Johnson and Mahaska Health CEO Kevin DeRonde.
May 16th, 2022
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Critical access hospitals play a vital role in communities like Oskaloosa and its neighbors.
Critical access hospitals help provide essential, urgent care services while meeting community health needs in rural communities.
That role has put Mahaska Health in a unique position. The leadership at the hospital continues to curate while also working to bring new services found only in more extensive, urban facilities to rural patients.
Nurse Practitioner Gayle Johnson and Mahaska Health CEO Kevin DeRonde recently sat down with Oskaloosa News to talk about Mahaska Health’s role in the community and, more importantly, the people who help make it all happen.
DeRonde said that the hospital has seen an expansion in services and has 21 primary care providers on staff. “We’re just thankful that we have a lot of great people joining our team and just taking care of patients.”
“I want to say that it is a huge service to the community to offer those things locally,” said Johnson. “A lot of our people that need this care, travel is not easy for them. So to have it locally speaks volumes.”
“You know, I just think it’s a privilege to be able to care for people, and I love it,” said Johnson in the closing comment of our interview.
Mahaska Health held a banquet on Tuesday evening to honor its employees and volunteers and their service to the community.
Watch the attached video for our complete conversation.
