Two Ascension senior leaders will be assuming new Ministry Market Executives roles effective July 1.
Don King, currently serving as Senior Vice President, Ascension, and Ministry Market Executive, Ascension Kansas, will become Senior Vice President, Ascension, and Ministry Market Executive, Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast.
Kevin Strecker, currently serving as Chief Operating Officer for Ascension Via Christi in Kansas, will become Senior Vice President, Ascension, and Ministry Market Executive, Ascension Kansas.
About Don King
Don King has enjoyed a long and successful career with Ascension. In 2019 he was tasked with leading Ascension Kansas, bringing nearly 20 years of senior healthcare leadership experience to the role. He has guided several growth and expansion initiatives at Ascension Via Christi in Kansas while leading the health system as it has navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, always keeping the needs of patients and associates at the forefront in alignment with our Mission.
Don previously served as Chief Operating Officer for Ascension Alabama, where he led efforts to address community social determinants of health through participation in statewide opioid and behavioral health initiatives and improved quality measures of sepsis, heart failure and pneumonia.
Prior to that, he served at Ascension Tennessee, first as Chief Operating Officer of Ascension Saint Thomas West Hospital and then as COO for Ascension Saint Thomas West and Midtown Hospitals. Two years later, he assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of the multicampus, multihospital system.
Don earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from Loma Linda University in southern California. He is a graduate of the Ascension Executive Ministry Leadership formation program as well as the Ascension Leadership Academy.
Active in various community organizations, he has served as board member of the American Heart Association of Middle Tennessee, on the Executive Committee of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and as board member for YMCA at Maryland Farms. In 2014, he received the Regent’s Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives.
About Kevin Strecker
Kevin Strecker has served as Chief Operating Officer for the Ascension Kansas Ministry Market and President of Ascension Via Christi hospitals in the Wichita, Kansas, area since 2019.
He grew up in Scott City, Kansas, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, in 1993. Kevin later left Wichita to complete a Master of Business Administration degree from Webster University, St. Louis, and worked as a regional administrator for HealthSouth’s imaging division. He transitioned to Ascension Via Christi when it purchased a Wichita hospital from HealthSouth in 1994, then worked for five years at HealthSouth in Chicago before returning to Ascension Via Christi in 2002 to serve as a Director of Radiology and later as Vice President of Imaging and Laboratory Services.
In 2009, Kevin assumed the role of Vice President of Operations and then earned a second master’s degree in Management and Leadership in 2012. During his service with Ascension Via Christi, Kevin has held a variety of leadership roles. In 2010, he served as Senior Administrator for Ascension Via Christi St. Teresa and eventually served as Senior Administrator for what is now Ascension Medical Group Via Christi.
Kevin is a graduate of the Ascension Executive Ministry Leadership formation program. He serves on the Wichita Cancer Foundation’s Board of Directors.
