NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — For the new Director of Marketing and Communications for Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, Brittney Weis, one of her goals is to get the community to look again at Hutchinson Regional as living up to its name not just for Hutchinson, but for the region as a whole.
"Our staff are incredible individuals that truly care about Hutchinson," Weis said. "They come to work every day committed and ready to make a difference in the lives of our community. Every day when I show up and just walk the halls and hear about mission moments and the great care that we're providing, it really energizes me and makes me excited to help spread the word of the great work we're doing."
The focus for the system is to be the first place people think of when they need health care, not just for emergencies, but for the care needs everyone has to maintain their daily lives.
"My number one job is storytelling," Weis said. "It's working with our providers and our patients. With HIPPA privacy laws, we do have to be really careful, but there are so many patients that are willing and happy to share their story. It's just working with our teams to help identify, who are those individuals and then giving them the opportunity to sit down and tell their story."
Another part of that story is becoming the hospital that people come to from all over the western half of Kansas.
"I am really passionate about social determinants of health and rural health care," Weis said. "That's what interested me when I saw the opportunity at Hutch Regional. About one in five Americans receive care at a rural health care center. Over 45 million people in the United States live in a rural community. Making sure that rural hospitals remain standing is something that I am very passionate about, really providing care to those that, if there wasn't a hospital in Hutch, they might have to drive to Wichita or Salina."
Weis was named an honoree in the Wichita Business Journals’ 2022 Marketing Awards. She's been in Hutchinson for a little over a month.