Great Bend Regional Hospital

Great Bend Regional Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital in Great Bend, Kansas, serving as a regional care facility within The University of Kansas Health System. The hospital is located at 514 Cleveland Street and operates as the system's Great Bend Campus. Its role is centered on delivering community and regional healthcare rather than functioning as an independent academic medical center. The campus provides orthopedic care, diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation, and surgical services, and maintains a Level IV trauma center for emergency and injury care. The hospital is connected organizationally to The University of Kansas Health System, a nonprofit academic health system affiliated with the University of Kansas Medical Center. The broader health system combines patient care, medical education, and research and operates hospitals and education centers in several Kansas communities. Through this relationship, Great Bend Regional Hospital is part of a larger clinical network while retaining a local-care function for residents of Great Bend and surrounding central Kansas communities. The facility's service mix reflects the needs of a regional hospital. Orthopedic services address musculoskeletal conditions and injuries; imaging supports diagnosis and treatment planning; rehabilitation assists patients recovering from illness, injury, or surgery; and surgical services provide operative care locally. Its Level IV trauma designation indicates a role in the initial assessment, stabilization, and treatment of trauma patients, with more complex cases potentially requiring transfer through regional referral arrangements. Available reference material identifies the campus under both the Great Bend Regional Hospital name and The University of Kansas Health System Great Bend Campus name. The current reference describes it as active and reports 33 beds, 1,102 admissions, and 3,778 patients in 2025. These figures provide a recent operational snapshot, although the available material does not establish a longer historical series or specify whether the patient figure refers to all encounters or a particular reporting category. The institution should be distinguished from the University of Kansas Health System's flagship academic medical center in Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas City center has a separate institutional history, beginning with the development of the University of Kansas medical school and hospital and later becoming an independent hospital authority in 1998. The hospital joined with University of Kansas Physicians in 2017 to create The University of Kansas Health System. Great Bend Regional Hospital is best understood as a local campus within that broader system, not as the flagship hospital itself. No founding date, individual founder, chief executive, public ticker, official standalone website, or separate ownership entity is identified in the supplied material. The hospital's public identity is therefore primarily defined by its local Great Bend presence, not-for-profit status, emergency capability, core clinical services, and affiliation with The University of Kansas Health System.

Great Bend Regional Hospital is identified in reference material as a hospital campus of The University of Kansas Health System in Great Bend, Kansas. The campus is located at 514 Cleveland Street and operates as a not-for-profit facility with a Level IV trauma center. Its history is presented primarily through its relationship with the wider University of Kansas health system rather than through a separately documented institutional chronology. The parent system developed from the University of Kansas medical education and hospital institutions. Medical instruction associated with the University of Kansas began in the late nineteenth century, and the medical school became a four-year institution in 1905 after the consolidation of three Kansas City medical schools. In 1906, Simeon Bishop Bell provided land and financial support for the Eleanor Taylor Bell Hospital, which became an early home for the medical school and its clinical work. The medical center later moved to its current Kansas City location, and the hospital opened a new facility in 1979. A major organizational change occurred in 1998, when the hospital became an independent hospital authority and ceased receiving state funding. It adopted the name The University of Kansas Hospital and operated separately from the University of Kansas School of Medicine while remaining affiliated with the University of Kansas Medical Center. In 2017, The University of Kansas Hospital and University of Kansas Physicians combined to form The University of Kansas Health System. The Great Bend facility is described as one of the system's branch hospitals or campuses. Within that network, the Great Bend campus serves a different purpose from the flagship Kansas City academic medical center. Its documented service profile emphasizes accessible regional care: orthopedic treatment, diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation, surgery, and emergency trauma services. The Level IV trauma designation places the facility within the structured trauma-care system while reflecting the capabilities of a regional hospital. Patients whose conditions exceed local capabilities may require referral or transfer, although the supplied sources do not describe specific transfer protocols. The available reference identifies the facility under the historic or commonly recognized Great Bend Regional Hospital name and the system-aligned name The University of Kansas Health System Great Bend Campus. It reports that the campus had 33 beds and, in 2025, recorded 1,102 admissions and 3,778 patients. No separate founding year, founder, executive roster, ownership transaction, or detailed chronology for the Great Bend facility is supplied. Consequently, its documented history is best characterized as the development and operation of a locally focused hospital campus within the expanding regional network of The University of Kansas Health System.

• 2025

  Reported Great Bend campus operating snapshot

  [1]University of Kansas Health Systemen.wikipedia.org

  The Great Bend campus was described as a 33-bed hospital with 1,102 admissions and 3,778 patients during the year.

• 2017

  Formation of The University of Kansas Health System

  [1]University of Kansas Health Systemen.wikipedia.org

  The University of Kansas Hospital joined with University of Kansas Physicians to form The University of Kansas Health System, the organization associated with the Great Bend campus.

• 1998

  The University of Kansas Hospital becomes an independent hospital authority

  [1]University of Kansas Health Systemen.wikipedia.org

  The parent hospital became an independent hospital authority and no longer received funding from the state of Kansas, later operating as The University of Kansas Hospital.

A local, not-for-profit regional hospital campus providing essential acute, diagnostic, surgical, orthopedic, rehabilitation, and trauma services in Great Bend and central Kansas, with the institutional support of The University of Kansas Health System.

• Clinical service

  Orthopedic services

  The campus provides orthopedic care for musculoskeletal conditions, injuries, and related treatment needs. The supplied reference identifies orthopedics as one of the facility's principal clinical offerings, but does not provide a detailed list of procedures, subspecialties, or named clinicians.

• Diagnostic service

  Diagnostic imaging

  Imaging services support the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment planning of patients receiving care at the Great Bend campus. The available source confirms imaging as a campus service but does not specify the modalities or equipment provided.

• Therapeutic service

  Rehabilitation services

  Rehabilitation services help patients recover function following injury, illness, hospitalization, or surgery. The reference lists rehabilitation among the campus's core offerings without detailing the disciplines, programs, or clinical settings involved.

• Hospital service

  Surgical services

  The Great Bend campus provides hospital-based surgical care as part of its regional service portfolio. The supplied material does not identify specific surgical specialties, operating-room capacity, or named procedures.

• Emergency care

  Level IV trauma care

  The hospital operates as a Level IV trauma center, providing emergency assessment and stabilization for trauma patients within its designated capabilities. The source does not provide further detail on trauma volume, transfer partners, or designation dates.

1. 1University of Kansas Health Systemen.wikipedia.org