Dr. Robert Moser, who resigned last month as secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, has a new job.
Earlier this week, Moser was named executive director for the Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative at the University of Kansas Hospital.
Bob Hallinan, a spokesperson for the hospital, confirmed the hiring late Thursday afternoon.
“I can confirm that it happened, but it just happened,” Hallinan said. “We’ll be putting out a news release on it shortly.”
In his new role, Moser will administer a three-year, $12.5 million federal grant for improving heart disease and stroke care in western Kansas, using telehealth technology, data exchanges, preventive screenings, case management and patient education.
According to KDHE’s latest “Annual Summary of Vital Statistics,” 1,306 Kansans died of cerebrovascular disease (stroke) in 2013; 5,331 died of heart disease.
Heart disease and stroke were the state’s second and fifth leading causes of death, respectively.
“The highest mortality rates were in rural communities,” Barbara MacArthur, vice president for cardiac services at the KU Hospital, said in an earlier prepared statement. “Many deaths and long term disabilities from heart disease and stroke can be prevented if the right standards of medical care are accessed immediately. Under this program, hospitals working together can provide a continuum of high quality care with much better outcomes.”
The collaborative’s members include the critical access hospitals in Cheyenne, Gove, Ness, Norton, Pawnee, Phillips, Russell, Sheridan, Thomas and Trego counties, and the regional safety net clinics in Hays and Great Bend.
Moser, 55, practiced family medicine for 22 years in Tribune, his hometown, before joining KDHE in January 2011. He left the agency Nov. 28.
