MHA Members Elect Chair-Elect, Board Approves 2026 Officers
The Missouri Hospital Association Board of Trustees approved Stephen L. Reintjes Sr., M.D., president and CEO of NKC Health in North Kansas City, Mo., as its 2026 chair at the board’s Nov. 5 meeting held during MHA’s 103rd Annual Convention at the St. Charles Convention Center.
Dr. Reintjes’ term will begin Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. He will succeed Craig Thompson, P.T., MSA, FACHE, CEO of Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare in Clinton, Mo. Thompson will continue to serve on the board’s executive committee in 2026 as the immediate past chair.
“In 2026, MHA will embark on a new three-year strategic plan — aligned with the moment we’re in and designed to create a system that helps hospitals thrive while delivering value back to patients and communities,” Dr. Reintjes said.
Dr. Reintjes has held numerous leadership positions in the community, including board member of BioNexus KC, president of the Kansas City Medical Society, and board member of both the Midwest Transplant Network and St. Luke’s Hospital Kansas City. He has served as a member of the MHA Board of Trustees since 2020.
Dr. Reintjes is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
MHA member-hospital representatives elected Jeremy M. Fotheringham, J.D., MHSA, R.N., Academic, St. Louis & Southern Illinois regional president for SSM Health – St. Louis, as the 2026 chair-elect during MHA’s Annual Meeting also held Nov. 5. His election to the role is a path to serve as chair of the MHA Board of Trustees in 2027.
The MHA board also approved the following individuals for board roles.
- Secretary: Andrew J. Bagnall, MHA, FACHE, president and CEO of St. Luke’s Health Corporation in Chesterfield, Mo.
- Treasurer: Tina L. Gillespie, CEO of Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany, Mo.
- At-Large Members: Max D. Buetow, president and CEO of CoxHealth in Springfield, Mo.; and Justin Davison, MBA, president and CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare System in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
MHA members elected Karla Clubine, CEO of General John J. Pershing Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, Mo., and Jason Shenefield, president and CEO of Phelps Health in Rolla, Mo., for three-year terms to the board beginning Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
Members also elected the following physician, nurse executive and hospital trustee to serve on MHA’s board in 2026 for one-year terms:
- Darin Haug, D.O., FACOI, FACOP, chief medical officer and E.D. medical director with Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall, Mo., as the physician trustee;
- Stephanie Meyer, R.N., MS-FNP, NEA-BC, executive vice president and chief nurse executive, and COO of acute care with Children’s Mercy Kansas City as the nurse executive; and
- Dan Hegeman, past board member of both Heartland Regional Medical Center and Heartland Health Board of Directors, now known as Mosaic Health System Board of Trustees in St. Joseph, Mo., as the hospital trustee.
Learn more about MHA’s governance and board composition at MoHospitals.org.
The Missouri Hospital Association is a nonprofit association in Jefferson City that represents 136 Missouri hospitals. In addition to representation and advocacy on behalf of its membership, the association offers continuing education programs on current health care topics and seeks to educate the public about health care issues.