Children’s Mercy Kansas City Announces New Leadership Roles

Children’s Mercy Kansas City announces new leadership positions as part of an organizational restructuring:

• Introducing three new roles for Associate Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) to lead acute and inpatient care, regional and outreach services, and ambulatory services, respectively, these positions will report to the Douglas Rivard, Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief.
• Concurrently, Children’s Mercy announces the creation of an Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO) position for the Ambulatory Nursing Practice. This role will report to Stephanie Meyer, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer.

“Based on an assessment of our current structure, a comprehensive review of our needs and gathering input from numerous medical staff members, nursing and other key leaders, we determined these new positions will further improve and streamline our clinical operations,” said Doug Rivard, DO, Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief, Children’s Mercy. “The ACMOs and ACNO will focus on assigned areas to promote consistent performance and practice standards across the organization while fostering a collaborative environment.”

Stephanie Meyer, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, added, “Dr. Rivard and I have collaborated in taking a wholistic approach to defining a vision for the future leadership of our physician and nursing practices and we are excited for the positive changes this will bring to our organization and the community we serve.”

We are pleased to share the following appointments:

Jennifer Watts, MD, MPH, is being promoted to the position of Vice President, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Acute Care and Inpatient Services. Dr. Watts, a pediatric emergency medicine physician, who has been with Children’s Mercy for 20 years, has served in a variety of roles, including most recently as Chief Emergency Management Medical Officer and Chief Patient Progression Officer.

Mary Ann Queen, MD, Vice President, Regional and Diagnostic Services, has accepted the position of Vice President, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Regional and Outreach Services with expanded responsibilities. Dr. Queen, a pediatric hospitalist, has been with Children’s Mercy for 31 years and has served in a variety of roles, most recently President of the Medical Staff.  

Ahmed Abdelmoity, MD, MBA, MS, Vice President, Clinical Access, has accepted the position of Vice President, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Ambulatory Services. Dr. Abdelmoity, a pediatric neurologist, has been with Children’s Mercy for 19 years and has served in a variety of roles, including Division Director of Neurology and Associate Chair for the Department of Pediatrics. 

The incumbent for the ACNO role will be named in the coming weeks and will manage ambulatory nursing services for Children’s Mercy.