Position Overview

Understanding the Role

As you step through the doors of Kansas Heart Hospital, you immediately sense something different—an environment where physicians lead, clinical excellence is the highest priority, and bureaucracy takes a backseat to patient care. This isn't just another employed position; it's an invitation to join a physician-led, physician-owned cardiovascular community where your expertise will be valued from day one and your voice will help shape the future of cardiac care in Kansas.

The Perfect Blend: Private Practice Spirit with Hospital Support

Kansas Heart Hospital represents a rare opportunity in today's healthcare landscape—a practice model that preserves the entrepreneurial spirit and clinical autonomy of private practice while providing the resources and stability of hospital employment. When the hospital recently acquired the cardiology group, it maintained the physicians' leadership roles and created a seamless integration that benefits both patients and providers.

Unique Practice Model:

  • Physicians serve as CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board
  • Weekly leadership meetings ensure immediate response to physician concerns
  • Clinical decisions remain in the hands of physicians, not administrators
  • Entrepreneurial culture that rewards initiative and innovation

During a candid conversation with a senior physician who has practiced in both traditional hospital employment and private practice settings, he observed: "What we've created here is truly the best of both worlds. We have the security and resources of hospital employment, but we maintain the physician autonomy and responsiveness that makes private practice so appealing. When we identify a problem on Monday, we've implemented a solution by Friday."

Stepping Into a Thriving Practice from Day One

Unlike many cardiology opportunities where you face years of practice-building before achieving financial stability, this position allows you to step directly into an established, high-volume practice. With two current physicians in their 70s and three in their 60s looking to reduce their workload, you'll have the rare opportunity to inherit established patient relationships and referral patterns.

Immediate Practice Benefits:

  • Established patient panel from senior physicians transitioning their practices
  • Existing referral relationships with primary care providers throughout the region
  • Current 3-4 week wait for diagnostic studies and up to 6-month wait for new patients
  • Instant credibility as part of a respected cardiovascular program

"We're not looking for someone to build a practice from scratch," explained one physician leader. "We have more work than we can accomplish. We turn patients away and have waiting lists for weeks. The physicians joining us will walk into a practice that's already established. They may want to take over my practice or Dr. Reusser's practice—we have a lot of business."

Your Role Within the Team

As a new interventional cardiologist at Kansas Heart Hospital, you'll join a collaborative team of six cardiologists (five interventional and one electrophysiologist) who share a commitment to clinical excellence and mutual support. Your role will evolve based on your interests and expertise, with the freedom to develop areas of specialized practice while maintaining core interventional skills.

Your Clinical Responsibilities:

  • Comprehensive cardiovascular care from initial evaluation through intervention
  • Balanced schedule with dedicated clinic and procedure time
  • Participation in the call rotation (1:6) and STEMI call (1 in 8)
  • Weekly cardiac hospitalist coverage approximately once monthly
  • Outreach clinic participation (initially 1-2 times monthly, building over time)

The physicians at Kansas Heart Hospital have created a culture of mutual support rather than internal competition. "We back each other up," noted one cardiologist. "If someone gets behind or has an emergency, we step in to help. That's just how we operate—like a true group practice rather than individual physicians working under the same roof."

Qualifications That Set You Apart

The ideal candidate for this position brings both technical excellence and interpersonal skills that will complement the existing team and continue the tradition of compassionate, patient-centered care that has defined Kansas Heart Hospital.

Qualifications & Attributes:

  • MD or DO degree from an accredited medical school
  • Completion of an accredited cardiology fellowship with interventional training
  • Board certification/eligibility in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology
  • Kansas medical license or ability to obtain
  • Commitment to clinical excellence and patient-centered care
  • Collaborative approach to practice and decision-making

Beyond these formal requirements, the group values physicians who are flexible, dedicated to teaching (both medical students and staff), patient in navigating clinical challenges, and kind in their interactions with patients and colleagues. As one staff member expressed, "We need providers who are willing to jump in and get their hands dirty, while maintaining the compassion our patients have come to expect."

A Voice in Hospital Leadership

What truly distinguishes this opportunity is the direct line from clinical practice to hospital leadership. As a physician at Kansas Heart Hospital, you'll participate in a governance structure where physicians maintain majority control and administrative decisions are made with direct clinical input.

Leadership Structure:

  • L5 leadership team (physicians and key administrators) meets weekly
  • Clinical issues addressed immediately rather than through bureaucratic channels
  • Physicians maintain majority ownership (51% Kansas Heart Hospital, 49% Via Christi)
  • Opportunity to become a hospital stockholder with financial distributions

During a conversation with the hospital CEO, he emphasized, "Our organization is built on the belief that physicians should lead healthcare delivery. Administrative staff are here to support the clinical mission, not the other way around. That orientation makes all the difference in how decisions are made and how quickly we can respond to changing needs."

Your Future at Kansas Heart Hospital

As you consider this opportunity, imagine not just your first year but your career trajectory at Kansas Heart Hospital. The practice is positioned for significant growth, with expansion plans already drafted and blueprints prepared. As senior physicians transition toward retirement, new leadership opportunities will emerge for physicians committed to the organization's long-term success.

Growth Trajectory:

  • Plans to add 4-5 additional cardiologists over the next several years
  • Physical expansion of the hospital planned when physician capacity increases
  • Opportunity to develop specialized programs based on your interests
  • Potential for leadership roles as the practice evolves

"We're looking at a five to ten-year vision," explained one physician leader. "The physicians who join us now will help shape what this organization becomes in the next decade. That's the real opportunity here—not just to practice excellent cardiology, but to help define the future of cardiovascular care in our region."

As you consider joining Kansas Heart Hospital, recognize that this is more than a job—it's an invitation to become part of a physician-led community that has created something extraordinary in Wichita: a practice environment where clinical excellence, physician autonomy, and patient-centered care remain the highest priorities. For the right interventional cardiologist, this represents the increasingly rare opportunity to practice medicine the way it was meant to be practiced. 

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