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Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community Month 2 of 2026 is now already behind us. What an eventful finish to its end, and we can sure be grateful (for now) that we are still seeing our surroundings fully intact and undisturbed, except for the desired rainfall. Middle East communities abroad aren’t so lucky.   I am pleased to have updated the tables below to reflect new 2026 targets for the various service lines and stats that we show you regularly. I am also pleased to share that we have more green values than red for the first time in some time…which even includes the surpassing of some larger 2026 targets in some areas, but in exceeding some reduced targets in a few other areas. That said I am going to sign off early as I am in preparation for a Critical Issues Workshop in Wichita tomorrow and Friday, and I need to get this out before the evening finishes. I will have more to say than I know now about some very interesting opportunities MCH can embrace relative to the Rural Health Transformation Grants, which are just now opening up for our applications to be considered.   Until next time, stay on the right path - and make each day amount to something good! -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community Once in a while you can really feel that your “work” works out! We all need to sense those experiences of satisfaction following identified results of participating in a work effort, or we will probably soon gravitate to working elsewhere – that is just part of our human nature. This month started off with two such results, that will truly make a difference for our hospital moving forward.   After three months of futility seeking assistance from a couple recommended attorneys, I reached out in mid-January to Richelle Marting, JD, of Marting Law, to see if she would research and write a letter to our MAC, WPS, supporting MCH's qualifying for new legislation allowing for EMS cost-based reimbursement, if operated by a CAH.  Within a couple of weeks Marting had a letter in my hand endorsing our eligibility for this new program. We then planned with GPHA to add a drop-down coding option of putting a B2 condition code on each EMS claim, targeting it for eligible cost reimbursement. These instructions were willingly given to Ms. Marta by WPS, which really validates our likely success. So nearly 60% of EMS claims now going back to the first of January 2026, will be captured for 2026 cost reimbursement. The extra funding, estimated to be $450-500K annually, will first begin to be collected following a planned 6-30-26 interim cost report! This result will likely end our long-lasting need of subsidizing EMS operations out of Hospital operations and perhaps enable us to better service the White City area, by stationing a crew there. We will be studying that possibility with the County Commissioners over the next few months.     Secondly, after two years off and on dialogues with Dr. John Mosier of Herington, he has asked our system to partner with him and assist with the operation of his relatively new Medical Clinic. This close alignment will give our current team a nice footprint for growing our Obstetrics and Endoscopy services in a neighboring Community, as well as giving us access to Dr. Mosier filling in to cover our Emergency Room periodically. We welcome serving Herington residents on our campus, as well as on his campus, and this official partnership will further enhance those relationships.   Hope it is evident to all of you how beneficial these two additions will be to our operations! We are certainly having our share of good things over the past several weeks. If only Dr. Heck will add to our recent good fortune. An empty office still awaits you, Dr. Heck. Have a great two weeks, everybody. -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community Already into month two of 2026! Our world is just so crammed full of constant data flowing all around us, that I am convinced there is too little pause in our days, that time is truly moving faster! And no end in sight to less data. Guess that means we are all going to grow to be AI dependent in order to help us process it all – that’s a bit scary.   As we dissect the close of 2025 and compare it to the ultimate close of 2024, we have discovered some really interesting takeaways.  I reported throughout 2025 a sense of plateauing from the two previous high growth years in 2023 and 2024. The difference was that the growth in 2024 was managed largely from a cost-controlled strategy, despite dealing with substantial inflation. The reality of growing volumes on the back of controlling expenses led to a significant claw back from Medicare based on our efficient operations. Unique to our CAH world, CMS had overpaid us and forced us to refund a lot of the gain we thought we had achieved. Void of this “settlement knowledge” at the end of 2024, we did the right thing and made a major investment in our staff’s salaries to start 2025. This cost increase led to a comparative sluggish start for the first three quarters of 2025, until we elected to do an interim cost report, knowing our costs had increased significantly. Again, unique to our CAH world, we received a large make up payment from CMS, indicating they had underpaid us for the first ten months of 2025. So, all said and done, we finished 2025 in an extremely positive manner, and compared to the corrected year of 2024, our operating results appear to be very similar to each. It has truly been a lesson learned for me, as to the nuances of managing a cost reimbursed operation.   Our revenue cycle processing showed considerable improvement in the last quarter, and we are starting 2026 in an upbeat manner. I am reminded of our billing woes that leaked well into 2025, and I feel very optimistic that many of those issues have been corrected. This report has mostly focused on the backend of our hospital business, and I would be remiss not to add that none of that activity would even happen, if first of all we didn’t deliver the attentive and high-quality patient services at the front end. I thank both our Clinical and Non-Clinical teams for truly performing in a great manner throughout 2025! Let’s continue with these efforts throughout 2026! -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community I prepared the report for period ending 1-3-2026, but I can’t see that I sent it. So here it is, if you are ok with older news. Welcome to 2026, ready or not! On the 29 th  of December, it was announced that the State of Kansas was formally awarded $222 million of federal dollars over the next five years for the benefit of those delivering rural healthcare, AND secondly, a very pricey change in how the 340B program was going to be administered, was put on hold with a late December ruling to halt said change by a Federal Judge in Maine (and since held up by a US Court of Appeals)! Not a bad way to start our new year, but our challenge will be to follow the rules of securing a piece of the granted award. Getting a check will call for considerable conforming to new rules emanating out of HRSA and CMS – how else would you have a chance to that amount of Federal dollars?   This year’s calendar imposed both year-end holiday weeks into the same two week pay period, so our production performance reported below was about as weak as it could be relative to targets (only 5 green metrics due to multiple closed days) …with the exception of cash collections! I am very proud of the way our revenue cycle team overcame a rough start and middle to our 2025 calendar year and finished with some resounding collection efforts over the last quarter! For missing our 2025 annual budgeted revenue by nearly 7%, we managed to collect in cash nearly 12.5% more dollars than in 2024! A process that began the year gasping for air, managed to right itself quite effectively through lots of effort, led by Lisa Lee, Annette Rice, Sara Roberts and their collective staff. There has truly been some exceptional work put forth to achieve this turnaround. Thanks to all of you who contributed your time, knowledge, and energy!   So, there is real optimism heading into 2026, although tempered with some caution. Our number one objective, beyond hiring another physician or two, is to further grow and cement the retention of our primary service area’s commitment to use our facility’s’ services before going elsewhere. These two objectives go hand in hand, along with our commitment to being as efficient as we can in meeting our customers’ expectations. I truly think the evolution of AI will be an asset this year in helping us meet our objectives! It will be an eventful and sometimes bumpy ride, so I hope everyone is ready and willing!   Thanks for always putting our patients first! -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community As we brace for our first big winter storm, we can hope that Evergy keeps the lights on…hopefully not the same worry that some bigger cities in this storm’s pathway are wrestling with. MCH will be here no matter what, as our backup generator is well primed and tested.   Januarys are always extremely busy at the back end of our business, as the accurate closing out of the prior year is critical, as is the creation of a new budget for the new year. Changes in coding rules hit us, insurance plans change for many, inventories must be counted, and W-2s and 1099s must get prepared for the latest tax season efforts. So, from my chair, I am very grateful that those on the clinical side of operations (the important side of the ledger), are just as busy taking care of our patients and delivering the required services as directed by our providers! With kids back in school during winter months, it is likely that bugs are getting spread around, and illnesses are more common than not. So, try to stay well out there, my friends.   We had a great day last Friday, spent with Dr. Annie Heck, an FP/OB resident, available for her new placement, somewhere, this coming July. As usual, these new grads are sought by many communities in Kansas, so we must patiently wait for her to make her rounds, and keep our fingers crossed that she finds us the best fit for her budding career. We’d love to have you here, Dr. Heck, in case you are listening.   A retirement was announced at the beginning of this month, and it will be hard to say goodbye to Annette Rice at the end of January. She has been a long-time dedicated coder here and has taught numerous folks through the years about the intricacies of correct charting and documentation of what we do for each of our patients. We’ll miss you, Annette.   In wrapping up December numbers, I am pleased once again to verify that the fourth quarter was very good for demonstrating a growth, year over year, in the amount of work we delivered for our service area. After having relative flat growth for three quarters, activity in our final quarter pushed our 2025 year over 2024 in net patient revenues to a 10% increase. To all of you, we are so honored that you chose us for your required care.   We look forward to taking care of you in 2026. Thanks, MCH Team, for always putting our patients first! Have a great two weeks. -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community With only a week left in 2025, we can safely say that the looming wind-down period over the next busy family times leaves us mostly just a few moments to think of the new year ahead. The winter solstice was last Sunday, so a good piece of news is that the days are now back on the getting longer cycle. We’re also being privileged this year with a very mild few days, weather wise, so our thinking ahead can be done in relative comfort.   Being my 70 th  year on earth, 2025 passed by more quickly than any I can remember, and though much was accomplished, I feel I am carrying over a few things into 2026 that I had hoped to have checked off the list by now. Certainly, I had hoped to have had a new doctor sign on the dotted line for future employment with us by now…but surely, we can close that need out in the upcoming first quarter. We have a few candidates in the “interested pipeline”. And may I add my thanks for the wonderful contributions made by Dr. Melanie Byram to our medical community over her career. We wish her all the best in her now retired status.   One thing achieved to which we were just recently notified, is the “zero-deficiency three-year-reaccreditation” received by our MCH Medical Clinic! This review demonstrates that a high degree of evidence-based practice occurs here, along with the serving of highly satisfied customers. So, congrats to our 18-19 providers and staff members who contributed to this designation, led by Sara Roberts!   January will bring in a few legislative changes, mostly brought about by CMS and the Big Beautiful Bill. These changes will affect us in both positive and negative ways, so the net impact is still a bit unnerving. Hopefully the new guidelines will be more subtle than substantial, and we will have ample time to adjust.   As this is my last report in 2025, I want to thank all supporters and utilizers of MCH, and we will strive to serve you even better moving forward! Wishing everyone of you a Blessed Christmas and a Prosperous New Year! -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community With the Holidays thick in our midst, we are readily reminded how busy our 21 st century December lives have gotten. Once again, it is all somewhat exhilarating and mind twisting at the same time. At MCH we try to fit in as much work as we can into fewer days, as time off is essential to accommodate the extra demands of the season. This year at MCH we are tasked with higher inpatient demands than normal, while our outpatient services have shrunk some because of the holiday schedules. A feel-good thing is that Christmas songs are filling the air, and we are daily cognizant of the coming birth date of our Lord and Savior.   Closing in on another year’s end awakens my gratitude for the gritty performance our entire MCH team has given in 2025. We began the year having lost a physician in the middle of 2024 and also had two of our current providers scaling back some in a pre-retirement mode. Along with a rebalanced Herington market over the previous fifteen months of their post hospital closure, we witnessed a true leveling off in our business following two years of remarkable growth. This was not effectively forecast, so we fell behind our 2025 targets early in the year. But we held to task and with an effort to capitalize on swing bed and new surgery opportunities, we are closing out the year in a robust manner and narrowing the gap in our expected 2025 results. I ask our entire team to feel really good about their efforts this year, and to continue the course we are on. Our recent and ongoing recruiting efforts should soon pay dividends to fill some provider holes with needed relief. Thanks to ALL OF YOU!   The looming cold air of January and February feels more daunting than in recent years, as the warmth of Chief’s winter victories is not going to align with our 2026 calendar. Despite this, we mustn’t forget…they did give us quite the run over the past decade, (although it sure doesn’t lessen today’s sting). It just doesn’t feel like it should be a basketball focus this early on.   Two weeks from today is Christmas, so if I do not get another newsletter out before then (though I hope to), I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, and some truly relaxing time with family and friends. Do enjoy the SEASON! -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community There is much for a busy hospital to be thankful for – number one, the great providers and staff we have that are striving to meet all the elevated demands – brought on by the bugs of late fall / early winter. We are thankful for the spirit of brotherhood in our small town and for the positive attitudes that mute the naysayers. We are thankful for technology and medicines that speed up recoveries, and we owe a lot of gratitude to the outside vendors and contractors who support our needs from afar. We are thankful for our Creator and the promise of another day…MCH is blessed and we hope we are a blessing to others.   Our “green count” this pay period had some very encouraging numbers, as we begin wrapping up a year that has fallen a bit short of targets, but is gaining on some of those as we wind down the last quarter. Any business must achieve a majority of its targets year by year, or less than desirable adjustments in the future will have to be considered. In healthcare, we are dependent on other industries playing by the known rules of reimbursement, so some of our fate is beyond our control – not unlike farming, construction, retail, and most businesses. This reminds all of us that life is just something to roll with, and we should circle back to being grateful for what we do have.   Please forgive the contemplative mood expressed today – maybe the result of my anniversary falling tomorrow alongside Thanksgiving. Maybe I just really need a vacation. At any rate, I close with one last whimsical thought:   Tis the day before Thanksgiving, may your turkey be thawed…and with temperatures falling may your timber be sawed. As the recipes are picked and the cabinets are restocked, we’ll soon have a time with whom the Chiefs to be awed. Gotta win the rest of them KC – starting tomorrow…May everyone have a great two weeks. -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community Who of you knew that yesterday was National Indian Pudding Day? Seeing no hands raised, I know some of you have heard that the last couple of weeks have honored our Radiology Techs, our Physician Assistants, and our Advanced Practice Nurses… all of whom play such important roles on our Healthcare Team! So, thank you very much: Corky, Deanna, Kirstin, Bailey, Tristyn, Isabel, Teresa, Deb, Carol, Lisa, Katie, Haley, and David – you all rock!   This last pay period has certainly broken records for overnight census for any two-week period since I have been with you. It has been quite the stretch for added everything (I am thinking of extra meals, drugs, and linens – things we don’t frequently discuss a lot, but that take a lot of extra effort from a bunch more hands)! Thanks to everyone for accommodating the additional work – and I have not heard any significant moaning – you are all really good! And - you executed a Health Fair in between!!   It has been a busy two weeks of interviewing various providers for a variety of possible full or part time roles…nice to have people wanting to visit with us and I firmly believe we will have some positive announcements soon. Another hot topic in the last two weeks has been the selection process for our 2026 renewal Medical Plan. When competing insurance companies are seeking your business, it can get pretty interesting, and with the complexities of the several players within each proposal, it can be a tough call as to which option sets itself apart. My team wants the best overall plan for you that our budget can afford, and a decision will come within days.   As we approach another Holiday season – the first freeze is behind us – I hope we can all find ways to help and appreciate each other. Thanks to all of you who find ways to give to the less fortunate and who find a way to brighten the spirit of a sad face!  May everyone have a great two weeks. -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community Another month is today passing us by, and with such, may your treats exceed your tricks. We have had a month of government shut down, but quite a busy month here at MCH, as we have had our highest month overnight census of this year, and very likely the highest revenue month of the year…all before an official first freeze!   We enjoyed the visit of our first of two new possible physicians, two days ago, and we thank Dr. Kayden Carter and her young family for making the long drive down from Rapid City, South Dakota. We know she will land in Kansas sometime next summer, but it is again a question of whether we can come out ahead of another opportunity she has much closer to where grandma and grandpa live. We can hope our merits outweigh such a nice perk. At any rate we also look forward to a visit with Dr. Eric Thomson and his wife, next week!   I pass on a reminder that our clocks once again fall back tomorrow night (daylight savings time ends) - at 2:00 AM Sunday. And do you recall that just a few years ago, in 2022, the Se nate passed the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent, but the House, under previous leadership, allowed it to die without action? I did not remember that, and the reason it has been highly considered is that the disruption to our routines and sleep schedules has been proven to be quite unhealthy for humankind in general. I did not know that either…so do be cautious and careful not to be overly affected.   Morris and Chase County’s alternating annual Health Fairs will again resume in Chase County on November 8 th from 7:30 to Noon at the Cottonwood Falls Highschool. Greatly discounted Lab testing will again be available after a 2–3-year onsite hiatus. As caregivers, we encourage the preventative nature of screening that this event offers to our public residents of either County…so do take advantage. Also on the healthcare front, it is intentional to honor Pharmacists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Medical Assistants, (and Teachers) as October is their National Recognition Month. It is also the month for Brest Cancer Awareness and Mental Health Awareness!! We send our appreciation to all of you in those lines of work! -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community What great Fall weather we are experiencing, with no hallway complaints heard yet (hmm?). The fact that no serious raking has yet been required makes me a happy camper…watch the leaves turn and drop now, since I said such. At MCH, we have been a bit busier lately – it helps when the vacation season is at least behind us for a little while. One nice bit of news is that three newborns were delivered in our hospital last week, a rare spike of bringing new lives right here into Morris County. I am also excited that we have just scheduled two interviews with FP docs who have experience with OB care. Adding more physician coverage to our local mix is a very focused objective over the next few months.   This is an important week in the lives of our Laboratory Staff. A new chemistry analyzer is being staged for installation, which is a disruptive process in that we must maintain testing services throughout the transition of old to new. So, kudos to the lab team which is jumping through some challenging steps to keep our lab testing operating seamlessly until our new and improved technology can be up and running…sometime late next week.   I want to acknowledge all the recruitment efforts that many of you are making by attending area wide fall workforce career fairs: Terri, Kevin K. and Stacy. With those participations and through efforts with local student shadowing invitations, we are seeing a influx of more applications than in recent past, and it has helped us reduce our reliance on traveler shifts. Recruiting and successful retention of staff does require us as a village to work in concert by demonstrating that we are a great place to work. So, thanks to all of you for those efforts.   Have a great next two weeks, and Chiefs: instead of splitting two games like you just did, please win both of them coming up. -Kevin Leeper, CEO

Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community Quarter 3, 2025 is now in the books…not closed, but being tabulated. The federal government is now partially shut down, but you won’t find MCH shutting down…hopefully for at least another lifetime or ten. It doesn't appear that our services will be compromised much during our Washington insiders politicking gestures. If we had been reliant on Telehealth services, we might have had a disruption in some care, as payment for those services has been suspended, but telehealth is not yet an often-used care vehicle for us. So, we will carry on and hope that the processing for payment of Medicare and Medicaid claims does not get disturbed (it isn’t supposed to be).   As we head into another Medicare Coverage enrollment period, I want to repeat the message we have been delivering for a few October/Novembers now. Traditional Medicare is your proven source for paying the highest percentage of your healthcare claims, over any of the other Advantage Plans that offer you medical coverage. It may not offer the perks of “a fitness membership” or slightly lower premiums, but it will allow you to see the doctor or hospital of your choice, and mostly without exhaustive preauthorization requirements for the services you need or your doctor orders. Advantage Plans can offer value for those healthy patients that do not use much healthcare. But if you have chronic conditions and/or are prone to seeing an array of specialties over the course of a year – please consider staying signed up with Traditional Medicare. The other options truly are not Medicare, even though they are funded by CMS – they are managed by for profit insurance companies, from which us hospitals must really battle with to receive our due payments! Thank you for that consideration!!   We have received our season’s flu vaccine and encourage everyone to stay tuned to our Website’s Calendar for our posted drive through option(s), to easily acquire your vaccination shots. You can also get them during a regularly scheduled Clinic visit.   Nice to have the Chiefs give us a couple of wins since my last newsletter. And congratulations to our City and County for putting on a nice week of historical recognition around the Santa Fe Trail Bicentennial. Hope everyone is enjoying this great fall weather. Have a great next two weeks! -Kevin Leeper, CEO