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game CHANGERS
• PRESENTED BY
sue korth has built a reputation as an outstanding leader in her field; ask her and she’ll quickly explain that all of that flows from the fact that her heart is and has always been in patient care.
SUE KORTH HAS earned
“The care that we provide speaks for itself.” MULTIPLE ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS – PH.D., M.P.H., B.S.N. – AND HAS SERVED SINCE 2007 AS THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Korth said she’s proud of the fact that an incredible FOR METHODIST WOMEN’S HOSPITAL, A FULL-SERVICE amount of planning went into the facility and actively involved staff as well as community members. MEDICAL FACILITY LICENSED FOR 114 BEDS THAT OPENED FIVE YEARS AGO AS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN “When we designed the Women’s Hospital, our staff was THE COMMUNITY. HER REPUTATION AS AN totally involved not only in the design, but the OUTSTANDING LEADER IN HER FIELD orientation process. We also put together a women’s NOTWITHSTANDING, KORTH SAYS HER HEART IS AND group that was an advisory council of leadership from HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN PATIENT CARE. the Omaha metropolitan area. We talked to them about what we should offer as a hospital, amenities we should “I’m still a nurse; I’m just contributing to the health of have, even down to the decor,” she said. patients in different ways,” she said. “I absolutely loved being a bedside nurse. I loved working in labor and Korth cultivated an atmosphere of valuing staff input that delivery. I loved working with patients, caring for them.” continues to thrive five years after the hospital first opened.
During her youth in Humphrey, Nebraska (a small town approximately 100 miles northwest of Omaha, between Columbus and Norfolk), Korth realized an early interest in medicine. “When I was growing up, I was torn between being a teacher and being a nurse. I believed that nursing gave me both options; I could be both a healthcare giver and a teacher because nursing is part teacher, anyway; I just melded the two together,” she said. She also discovered she had a knack for taking care of people. “I had aging grandparents who lived very close to us in our small community, and I did a lot of caregiving for them. It just felt very natural to become a nurse.”
Korth served as a nurse for almost two decades and never “We’re also a Magnet hospital (a Magnet designation forgot her roots as she transitioned from clinical care and is the ‘gold standard’ of nursing awarded to only six Korth said she credits her husband and two sons for medical management into administration, and that percent of the nation's hospitals by the AMERICAN helping her make it possible to advance to a level still means she not only retains her compassion for patients, NURSES CREDENTIALING CENTER), and our nursing not shared by a large number of women in her field. but high regard for the contributions of her staff. staff is in involved in the day-to-day care decisions of all of the patients.” “I have an extremely supportive husband and family; “I have an amazing team right now that challenges me, they’ve definitely supported my goals and all of those and I hope I challenge them as well. I work with some of She also said she emphasizes that everyone has a stake efforts,” she said. “My father was also an important role in every patient experience. model for me. He told me I could do anything I put my the best providers in the city, we have the largest OB mind to.” practice in the city and the largest perinatology practice group, and we have a neonatology practice out here that “A patient’s first impression is that first person they see time to give back when they walk through the door and their last is absolutely second to none,” she said. “I have a great impression is that last person they see when they leave,” One of those efforts supported by Korth’s family is deal of respect for my staff and the input they provide to she explained. “Throughout their stay, they’re going to making time in her demanding schedule to give back me, and I would tell you that each and every one of touch almost every department in the hospital, and if through nonprofit activities. them is an asset to the success of this organization.” one of those experiences is a bad experience, that’s what they’re going to remember – not everything else great “It’s important to stay involved in the community,” she dedicated to women's health that happened to them. I think everybody here said, adding that she feels there’s always more to do. Methodist Women’s Hospital may be most commonly understands that.” When most people are dreaming of leisure time associated with labor and delivery, but its health care activities for their golden years, Korth is eager to services focus on females in all stages of life. Korth said the meaning of care someday add to her nonprofit work even when she had confidence in the concept despite early doubts Hiring top-notch staff ensures the best care for patients, she retires. expressed by some community leaders whether a city of Korth said. this size could support a women’s hospital. Korth still makes substantial contributions to nonprofits “Health care is a 24/7 business, it’s not a 9-to-5 job. So I in what little spare time she has at the height of her “I think that the women of the city of Omaha deserve a think people who go into nursing really have to love career. She has served on the board of Ronald hospital that’s dedicated to serving the women of the what they do. We hire people who truly want to take McDonald House Charities in Omaha since 2013 (she’s community. We care for women; it’s what we do. And we’re care of patients; that’s their career, their passion, that’s now the president-elect). She’s also been on the board of the best at doing that. I believe if you have a specialty what they’re meant to do and want to do with the rest of the Women’s Fund of Omaha since 2009 and chairs the hospital, that’s where you would want to go to get care,” their lives. It’s important that we’re not just filling Adolescent Health Project focusing on teen pregnancy she said, adding that the hospital has been in demand from positions; we’re filling them with someone who really and STD prevention, a major endeavor where her the beginning, thanks to word-of-mouth endorsement. cares about what they’re doing.” medical expertise is invaluable.
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mQUARTERLY • AUG/SEP/OCT 2015