Horizon Health Care, Inc. (Horizon) recently announced the appointment of Christina Konechne to the position position of Chief Operations Officer. Konechne has served as the Director of Operations for Horizon for the past year and will succeed Jeff Mengenhausen who has served as Horizon’s COO for the past four years. Mengenhausen will be assuming his new role with Rapid City Regional Health in February 2015.
Konechne will be responsible for primary oversight of all areas of health center operations, including assuring the successful flow of patient care as well as implementation of federal grant and contract-funded programs. She will also be charged with the management of programs and support staff plus development of new service opportunities for the rural, community-based network that provides affordable, high-quality primary healthcare throughout 17 medical and dental clinics in South Dakota.
“I am extremely excited to have Christina join Horizon’s executive leadership team, where we will benefit immensely from her experience and proven record of success,” said John Mengenhausen, CEO of Horizon. “More than ever, Horizon’s growth opportunities abound as a result of our effective delivery and support of community health care services. Christina’s leadership will help ensure we continue to harness this potential and fully realize the opportunities before us.”
Prior to Horizon, Konechne was the Executive Director at Golden Living, where she led and directed the overall operations of the facility in accordance with customer needs, government regulations and Company policies.
With a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration, a graduate certificate in Long Term Care Management, and a master’s degree in Health Care Administration, Konechne is well suited for her new responsibilities at Horizon, including:
- Managing key indicators to monitor and evaluate performance of programs to ensure efficient and effective service delivery and attainment of organizational operational goals.
- Planning, coordinating, and controlling the daily operation of the organization through the organization’s managers.
- Developing grant applications.
- Acting as a resource for staff including sharing of expertise and information; providing assistance, mentoring, leadership, and training opportunities.
- Facilitating development and implementation of emergency preparedness plans and activities.
- Dispensing advice, guidance, direction, and authorization to carry out major plans, standards and procedures, consistent with established policies and Board approval.
- Meeting with organization’s other executives to ensure that operations are being executed in accordance with the organization’s policies.
- Establishing and maintaining an effective system of communications throughout the organization, the communities, and with federal and state partners.
- Leading and participating in the Quality Management process of identifying problems and participating in the development of criteria to study and improve the process.
- Assuming the role and responsibilities of Corporate Compliance Officer.
A South Dakota Native originally from Brookings, Konechne currently resides right outside of Madison, SD on an acreage with her husband, Marty Konechne and son, Oliver Joseph. In her spare time, she enjoys being outside, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.