Please join us in congratulating Austin M. Gillard, CEO of Clay County Medical Center, for receiving the annual Service Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and the Kansas Association of Healthcare Executives. The award is given through the ACHE Recognition Program, which celebrates commitment to the health care management profession. Awards are based on the execution of volunteer activities that demonstrate leadership and contributions to furthering professional excellence.

Gillard currently volunteers on the boards of the KU School of Medicine Wichita Foundation, Salina Area Technical College Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Hospital Advisory Committee, Wichita State University MHA Advisory Board, KONZA National Network, Kansas Hospital Education & Research Foundation, and the Kansas Association of Healthcare Executives. Gillard has served in various leadership positions with both ACHE and the National Rural Health Association.

Gillard said, “Thank you to the American College of Healthcare Executives for this Service Award, I am honored to be a part of the ACHE community and I am humbled to have worked for nearly a decade with so many caring medical providers and leaders who are fiercely dedicated to continuously improving the care experience for patients. Our medical providers and team members at Clay County Medical Center deserve every award I receive. They are the backbone to everything great we accomplish, together.”

Under his leadership, CCMC has been awarded the Top 20 Critical Access Hospital in the United States, along with being awarded the Regional Governor’s Award of Excellence in the State of Kansas. In August 2023, CCMC was ranked in the top five percent of all hospitals in the United States for patient experience performance. Gillard is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and was awarded the American College of Healthcare Executives Senior-Level Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award in 2022. Gillard became a National Rural Health Association Rural Health Fellow in 2018.