Aug. 24: Nursing chairs named to honor public servants

By Maegan Murray, WSU Tri-Cities

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities will dedicate its five new Kadlec Distinguished Chairs of Nursing to individuals who have displayed exceptional service to the local health care community at a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 24, at the Kadlec Healthplex, 1268 Lee Blvd., Richland.

The faculty chairs will be named in honor of Rand Wortman, Susan Kreid, Thomas Cowan, William (Bill) Moffitt and Hilda Boerhave Roberts.

The positions were made possible by an $18 million donation from Kadlec Regional Medical Center to hire nursing faculty at WSU Tri-Cities.

Debbie Nogueras, director of nursing at WSU Tri-Cities, will be presented as the first chair at the ceremony. The other four will be announced as they are hired.

The five people for whom the chairs are named are:

Rand Wortman, regional chief executive for Providence Health and Services. His leadership saw Kadlec Regional Medical Center restructure and develop as a regional referral hospital, growing from 920 employees in 2000 to more than 3,000 in 2015. He also led formation of the Kadlec Clinic.

Susan Kreid, who dedicated 21 years of service to Kadlec Regional Medical Center and is chair of its community board. She serves on the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Board and Battelle Institutional Review Board and is an active member of the League of Women Voters.

Thomas Cowan, a WSU graduate (’64) and vice chair of the Kadlec Regional Medical Center Board. He served on the Community Health Care Task Force as it negotiated formation of the Tri-Cities Cancer Center. He was chairman in his final year with the WSU Tri-Cities Advisory Council, which he served 1998-2007.

Bill Moffitt, who was named a 2007 Trustee of the Year by Modern Healthcare Magazine. Under his leadership on the Kadlec Regional Medical Center Board, Kadlec developed into a regional referral center and saw its employee workforce double. He is on the boards of Grace Clinic and the Kadlec Foundation, where he served on the pediatrics and neonatal intensive care fundraising committees.

Hilda Boerhave Roberts (1917-2011), who was the first director of the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education in Spokane, Wash. She served at WSU for 37 years. She received a certificate of appreciation from U.S. presidents Dwight Eisenhower in 1957 and Richard Nixon in 1972 for service to the nation and to the National Advisory Committee to the Selective Service System.

 

Contacts:
Ken Fincher, WSU Tri-Cities advancement, 509-372-7398, ken.fincher@tricity.wsu.edu
Maegan Murray, WSU Tri-Cities public relations, 509-372-7333, maegan.murray@tricity.wsu.edu