LANSING, Mich. — Kirk Ray, a 27-year veteran of provider-side health care with a substantial amount of experience in operating community-based hospitals, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Greater Lansing by the hospital’s Board of Trustees. Casey Kandow has been acting as interim President and CEO of McLaren Greater Lansing and will return to the role of Chief Operating Officer when Ray joins McLaren on May 9.
“I am very fortunate that the governance, administrative, and physician leadership at McLaren Greater Lansing has awarded me the opportunity to lead this respected organization,” Ray said. “I look forward to working and collaborating with the community, Michigan State University, the board, medical staff, and the employees to help create a new health care delivery model for the future.”
“Ray’s commitment to engagement of associates and the medical community, experience integrating medical education programs into a community-based hospital, and passion for clinical excellence will be of tremendous benefit to McLaren Greater Lansing and the community as a whole as our hospital enters a new and exciting chapter,” said E. James Barrett, Chairman of McLaren Greater Lansing’s Board of Trustees. In December 2017, McLaren announced it would be investing $450 million to build a replacement hospital campus in Lansing and expanding its clinical, research, and educational partnerships with Michigan State University.
“We look forward to Ray drawing on his extensive and diverse background in health care leadership to build upon McLaren’s successes in the areas of patient and employee experience, clinical quality, financial performance, and hospital operations.” The Board of Trustees at McLaren Greater Lansing, along with senior administration and a panel of physician leaders, considered a number of highly qualified candidates for the top position at McLaren Greater Lansing.
Most recently, Ray was the Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Health Network (LHN) – Kosciusko Community Hospital and Lutheran Health Physicians in Warsaw, Indiana where he was responsible for strategic, operational, and market leadership initiatives. He oversaw the development of a Clinically Integrated Network for LHN and was an executive board member for the network’s accountable care organization. During his tenure at LHN, Ray was also responsible for the development of telemedicine services for behavioral health and neurology; the acquisition and operation of emergency medical services within LHN; the development and expansion of occupational health service across northern Indiana; the growth and expansion of urgent care; and a 10 percent improvement of overall patient satisfaction scores.
Ray has also held President/CEO positions at ValleyCare Health System of Ohio (Youngstown, Ohio), DeKalb Health (Auburn, Indiana), St. Joseph Hospital (Ft. Wayne, Indiana), and Select Specialty Hospital (Ft. Wayne, Indiana). Ray is an active member of the local community through his service with a number of organizations focusing on patient safety and quality, population health, and economic development.
Ray is also active with national and regional professional associations and the Ball State University Alumni Association. Ray received the Ball State University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012, and has received a number of other honors and recognitions throughout his career for community service and business leadership.
Ray earned a Bachelor of Science from Ball State University and a Master of Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.