HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County has a new Health Department director. The county announced Friday afternoon that Karla Nichols has been named to the position and will start her duties Nov. 30.
Nichols will fill the role vacated by Nick Baldetti, who left in August for a position at McPherson College. Health Department assistant directors Karen Hammersmith and Megan Gottschalk-Hammersmith have been filling in as co-directors for the past three months.
Nichols is an Andale High graduate and has a master’s in healthcare administration from the University of Kansas. She has held leadership roles at Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital in Ulysses, Kansas, as well as Kansas Joint and Spine Specialists. Nichols was clinic administrator for Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital and managed the operations, human resource functions, and risk management for the rural hospital-clinic system. Nichols lives near Pretty Prairie with her husband, Scott, and has two adult children.
Nichols will oversee the operations of the Reno County Health Department through the development of policies, setting and developing goals, managing resources, and obtaining funding through various state and federal grants. This position also serves as a bridge in describing public health philosophy and practice to elected officials and community partners.