Late last year, Miranda Smith, M.D., did something no family medicine doctor had done at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center in 40 years — she delivered a baby. The milestone was made possible through a growing collaboration between PrairieStar Health Center and Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.  

Today, she is one of two full-spectrum family medicine providers offering maternal care in Hutchinson, expanding access to an essential service at a time when many rural communities are losing it. 

“Providing [family medicine with obstetrics] care in a smaller community allows me to build lasting relationships with families — caring for patients through pregnancy, delivery and beyond — while truly becoming part of the community myself,” Smith said.  

Partnership-driven solutions like this are increasingly critical as rural America grapples with persistent health care workforce shortages. In Kansas, these collaborations don’t happen by accident; they are often the result of long-term relationship-building, deep knowledge of local needs and intentional recruitment of mission-minded providers. 

Connections, care and deep knowledge 

For more than 30 years, Rural Health Education and Services and its recruiting team, the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center, have played a quiet but essential role in making these connections possible. By supporting both providers and health care organizations, the team helps communities move beyond simply filling vacancies to building sustainable systems of care.  

As the recruiting team approaches its 400th provider placement statewide, the impact of this work is visible not only in numbers, but in stories like Dr. Smith’s, where collaboration, creativity and commitment come together to serve Kansans close to home. 

“I’m incredibly grateful to the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center for connecting me with the opportunity to practice full-spectrum Family Medicine with Obstetrics in Hutchinson,” Smith said. “KRRC made it easy for me to connect with the clinic and move forward confidently through the hiring process. They made it possible for me to not just find a job, but a place where my skills are needed and where I can make a meaningful difference every day.” 

The recruiters closely track the nuances of Kansas’ health care workforce and know that the right opportunity must fit both the candidate’s career and family. Focusing on what matters most to candidates and organizations helps ensure lasting alignment. 

PrairieStar CEO Bryant Anderson said the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center has been a strong partner in helping the organization achieve its goal of restoring maternal care services to the community. He noted that the center’s team took time to understand the nuances of PrairieStar’s search for a physician practicing family medicine with obstetrics as well as the local challenges that needed to be addressed. 

“Partnerships and collaboration are the present and future of health care in rural communities,” said Joyce Grayson, director of Rural Health Education and Services. “The team has seen firsthand how transformative the right provider can be for a community — a perspective that continues to guide their work across Kansas.” 

Placements at heart of mission 

Since its founding in 2004, the center has facilitated 394 provider placements, most recently a new physician starting in Wilson County this fall. Each placement strengthens access to care in communities where even a single provider can make a meaningful difference. 

For Stephen Wanjala, M.D., a connection developed quickly. He attended Rural Health Education and Services’ annual Kansas Career Opportunities  Health Care Career Fair and found the right organizational fit that evening.  

Other placements take time and intentional persistence. 

After a two-year search supported by KRRC, MacKenzie Wahl, M.D., accepted a position with Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute, where she began practice in September 2025. Raised on a farm in rural Riley County, Wahl attended KU School of Medicine-Wichita, supported by the Scholars in Health program, and then went on to complete a family medicine residency and an obstetrics fellowship.  She was seeking a Kansas community where she could practice full-spectrum care while meeting her loan-repayment goals. 

Her journey reflects the center’s commitment to long-term, relationship-driven recruitment that prioritizes the right fit over speed alone. 

Finding a Good Match 

It’s no surprise that candidates often desire to practice close to family. Because so many placements involve providers who grew up in rural Kansas, the recruiting team is often able to identify opportunities that match providers’ personal and professional priorities. A physician recently began practicing in Seward County to be near family and to live in a community that welcomed her pit bull, for example. Meanwhile, in Linn County, a family medicine physician was drawn to the opportunity to practice broader-spectrum care. 

“We nurture mission-minded candidates who care deeply about community, often because they come from rural backgrounds themselves,” said Natalie Olmsted, manager of the recruiting team. “At the same time, we partner with organizations that are eager to meet the needs of the right candidate.” 

Rural Health roots in service 

Rural Health Education and Services began in 1991 at the University of Kansas Medical Center with a single staff member and a three-year grant that created the Kansas Bridging Plan, a loan-forgiveness program designed to attract physicians to rural Kansas. That early effort became the foundation for a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening the rural health workforce.  

Over the years, additional funding from the Kansas Legislature made it possible to launch the Kansas Locum Tenens program, which coordinates temporary physician coverage, and later the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center, staffed by a single recruiter for many years. 

Today, the Rural Health Education and Services team includes seven full-time and five part-time state employees, who are based on KU’s Wichita campus, supporting statewide initiatives. Economic impact data demonstrates the programs’ widespread impact across the state.  

Across all of its programs throughout more than 30 years of service, Rural Health Education and Services has placed 660 health care providers across Kansas. 

Though the rural health care landscape has evolved over the last three decades, ensuring that Kansas communities have access to high-quality care continues to drive the work of providers, partners and the center. 

Learn more about the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center.