2022 Health Care Champions Administrator: Kim Tilley

As vice president of operations for hospital services at Mercy Hospital Springfield, Kim Tilley plays a multifaceted role in health care.

She leads and represents nearly a dozen teams in the health system, including the imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, respiratory, emergency preparedness and emergency medical services teams.

“One specific way that I am charged with helping local patients directly is to ensure that our facility is always ready to receive patients for care,” she says. “This is an ongoing process that must be adapted to current events and the environment.”

This job responsibility came into play significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tilley and her team had to secure additional negative pressure rooms in the facility, which involved collaboration among multiple departments that she coordinated. She worked closely with the facilities maintenance team and local contractors to equip the rooms with additional supports to care for patients with COVID-19 and with the clinical teams and infectious disease experts to ensure the safest environment possible.

She also coordinated the logistics for alternative care sites in case the need should arise during the health emergency.

“While we are thankful that we never had to use these plans, the teams worked tirelessly in order to plan out every last detail needed to map out exactly what resources would be needed if  we ever got to the point where we had to rapidly expand our care space outside of our traditional physical footprint,” Tilley says.

As the pandemic progressed and vaccinations became available, she handled the planning for Mercy Hospital Springfield’s vaccination site.

“We were able to be designated as a high-capacity vaccination site because of tenacity and attention to detail,” she says.

Tilley says her job requires evaluating and refining the way Mercy provides care to patients.

“It involves having a pulse on the health care needs of the community to ensure that we can offer and provide the best possible services for our community in a safe, timely and professional manner,” she says. “We utilize many tools, resources and metrics to measure our performance, develop and implement our action plans to continue to grow, and advance our teams and services to better serve our community.”

Tilley’s undergraduate degree is in social work, and she says her motivation is rooted in a desire to help others.

“I was called to serve in this ministry, and I believe I have an obligation to be an effective voice for the economically poor and the underserved so that the health care needs for all can be met,” she says.

Tilley also helps other local organizations care for people. She is involved with The Kitchen Inc., as a member of the board of trustees, as well as on the development and finance committees. She also serves on the board of directors for Community Blood Center of the Ozarks and volunteers with Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri and Ozarks Food Harvest.