At the outset of Linda Farthing’s career, she was an operating room nurse at Central Kansas Medical Center. Now, almost 30 years later, she is the new vice president of St. Rose Ambulatory & Surgery Center.
As of May 1, CKMC became St. Rose.
Leanne Irsik, senior vice president/administrator of St. Rose, said Farthing’s extensive background will be an asset to patients and their families.
"The central Kansas community is fortunate to have someone of Linda’s caliber here at St. Rose," Irsik said. "Her experience locally and in Houston, Texas, is comprehensive and she is highly qualified to fulfill her new responsibilities."
Farthing’s most recent St. Rose position was chief nursing officer. As vice president she will supervise the 24-hour comprehensive Urgent Care Center, one-day surgical services, the accredited lab, Pharmacy, Radiology, Rehab Services, Heartland Cancer Center, Golden Belt Home Health & Hospice and cardio-pulmonary.
"Our focus is to streamline all our procedures so that St. Rose continues to be the choice for the best in health care," Farthing commented. "We also will be talking with the community about all our services, especially our comprehensive urgent care, one-day surgery capabilities, and home health and hospice.
"In upcoming months, we will be expanding our existing services and offering new ones," she continued. "We will enhance what we have and build on new innovations throughout St. Rose."
Farthing noted that she brings to her new job a commitment to St. Rose’s legacy, which began in 1903 with the Dominican Sisters.
"We are maintaining this mission as we align ourselves with the future of health care," Farthing said. "That future is a trend toward outpatient care. In fact, about nine out of 10 surgeries in recent years have been on an outpatient basis.
"The community’s support is crucial to our success," Farthing added. "We trust that central Kansans will look to us for the most compassionate, professional health care in the area, as they always have."
Farthing, a 1976 Great Bend High School graduate, earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from St. Mary of the Plains, in association with St. Joseph Hospital in Wichita. She worked in the local operating room, where she stayed for one year before transferring to Plainville Rural Hospital.
Next was the Intensive Care Unit at CKMC. She then became nursing manager in the ICU and on medical floors; the surgery unit was added to her management duties in 1992.
In 1994, Farthing moved to Houston where she was director of Emergency Services at two free-standing emergency centers associated with Clear Lake Regional Medical Center. She remained there until early in 2010, when she returned to Great Bend.
Farthing is certified in emergency nursing, and is an instructor in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support.
She and her husband, Jim, have four children — Jamie, Brandon, Bryan and Craig. They have two grandchildren.
