Ronnie Troy at the 50th Reunion, 2010
Ronnie Troy believes that if you are a part of the community and you find a place where you can help build and improve the community,
your responsibility is to participate in making important changes happen. Ron has demonstrated his community spirit by providing long-term leadership to expand healthcare in Wichita. Most recently, he has helped establish the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine. The college’s graduates will expand the number of physicians in Kansas and help address the well-documented shortage of healthcare services, especially in rural Kansas.
Connections to Osteopathic Healthcare
Ronnie’s association with osteopathic physicians started in Derby, where he lived until 5th grade when he moved to Wichita and attended Sunnyside. His father was having health problems that were likely related to the pressures of his business. His family M.D. couldn’t solve his problems, but an osteopath did. In Wichita, the family joined Trinity Evangelical Church (just four blocks from East High). An osteopathic physician in that congregation became their family physician.
Years later, after Ron served in the Air Force in Germany and Japan, he met Mary and they married. Her GP was also an osteopathic physician, who became their family physician and a social friend. One day, he asked Ronnie to join the Corporate Board of the Osteopathic Hospital of Wichita. “Physicians need representation,” he said. “The hospital’s physicians asked to put my name forward, because I had experience with osteopathic care.” Ronnie stepped up for this opportunity and thus began a long career in support of healthcare institutions in Wichita.
The Corporate Board met once a year to elect the Board of Directors for the hospital. This was not a good fit for Ronnie, who said, “I am not a stand-in-the-background, rubber stamp type of guy.” When an opening occurred in the early 1970’s, Ronnie stepped up again and volunteered for the Board of Directors. That position was usually saved for bankers, lawyers, and presidents of companies. Ronnie was a president of a construction company with considerable experience in management and leadership.
He likes to joke that everyone else on the board has initials after their names such as M.D. and Ph.D. He offered to put S.R. for Sheet Rock after his name. His modesty, community connections, and teamwork approach enabled him to function as an effective board member.
Pathway to Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine
As time went on, healthcare organizations changed. The Osteopathic Hospital of Wichita became Riverside Hospital and then Riverside 
Health Systems. Understanding elderly parents’ needs and seeing what was happening in healthcare in general, Ronnie helped the board decide to expand acute care into nursing homes and assisted living, the whole spectrum of healthcare all on one campus. With financing for healthcare increasingly precarious, they sold to Via Christi in 1998. The entire campus now included all types of care – from independent care to assisted living to Alzheimers/Dementia, including care for spouses.
Proceeds of the sale went into Riverside Health Foundation, where Ronnie served on the Board from 2001 to the present day. During this period, the Foundation noted the shortage of physicians and became interested in Via Christi’s physician education programs and in addressing the shortage of physicians in Kansas. Ronnie’s service coincided with a series of corporate changes, meeting legal and financial requirements that led to the development of Kansas Health Science Center (KHSC).
Developing a College of Osteopathic Medicine
At this point, Riverside Health Foundation and Kansas Health Science Center began to consider founding a College of Osteopathic Medicine in Wichita. They found a key partner in The Community Solution Education System (TCS), a Chicago-based non-profit that includes six colleges and universities delivering specialized education, largely in professional fields such as psychology, law, teacher education, social work, and other fields. These private non-profit colleges serve 14,000 students in thirteen locations. Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine is now proudly one of the six universities in the system. (www.tcsedsystem.edu)
Having experience with condescending experts from big city outfits building businesses in Wichita, Ronnie was concerned about partnering with TCS. “What I learned,” he said, “is that the CEO of TCS is incredibly committed to bringing people together in the community. They especially value graduates who help to improve health, education, and community service.”
“Some of our board members flew to Chicago to meet with TCS. We found them to be an aggressive and focused non-profit, but I was skeptical of the cheerful and bubbly upbeat employees. I was totally wrong. That social atmosphere reflects the culture of the company. Their culture and their respect for our community have enabled us to work together really well.”
The governor at the time, Sam Brownback put them in touch with the Lt. Governor, who assisted members of the Riverside Health Foundation Board, including Ronnie, in navigating state requirements. TCS facilitated planning and helped assemble a talented and effective oversight board. All parties agreed that parts of Kansas are healthcare deserts. The shortage of physicians is already acute and many doctors are near retirement. Worse, making rural areas attractive to GP’s is very difficult. They need even more skills than usual, since so few specialists are available. Everyone they worked with at the state level was aware that there were places in Kansas that were desperate for medical care.
Current Status of Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM)
Located in a renovated office building in downtown Wichita, the new college began operations with its first class in 2022. About 20% of the students are from Kansas; the others come from across the US, affirming the national need for more physicians. Students from six foreign countries are also enrolled in the first two classes. Some students scramble to make ends meet. Riverside Health Systems sponsored scholarships for the first two classes and will continue raising funds to support students. A talented, experienced faculty is in place to teach them.
The American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) awarded preliminary accreditation to the college in 2022. Full accreditation is on track to begin when the college graduates its first class. The enrollment goal is 560-70 students.
After investing 90% of its funds in the college’s start-up, the Riverside Foundation now focuses on using its funds to place physicians in Wichita and around Kansas. Many graduates will go on for training in specialties, but the Foundation hopes that at least 10-12% will choose to work as general practitioners (GP’s) in the state. Scholarship students are encouraged to consider practicing in Kansas. The Foundation is developing an incentive program that will offer to reduce student loans for graduates who agree to practice three to five years in rural Kansas. Clinical rotations in places like Garden City will help to introduce them to small town life.
The Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine Board of Directors is actively involved in fund-raising, partnerships, lobbying, marketing brand awareness, and other activities to support the college. Ronnie is currently serving as chair of the Advancement Committee, which is working to secure state and federal grants. Some of these grants require that graduates practice in under served areas for at least three years.
Osteopathy and Allopathy
Asked about society’s attitudes toward osteopathic medicine, Ronnie explained that the stigma once associated with osteopathy is slipping away. Recently, Osteopathy and allopathy have become increasingly similar. All students applying to medical schools of either orientation must take the MCAT tests. All graduates must pass the same certification exams in specialties: e.g., OB-GYN, Neurology, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Trauma, etc. Today, Doctors of Osteopathy are much more likely to be integrated with MD’s in clinics, hospitals, and other areas of practice.
A major difference in training is that students earning the Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) degree take courses to train them in physical manipulation and massage. At Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, students shadow professionals during their third and fourth years of medical school, so that their academic training is firmly grounded in realities of patient care. They also learn to approach patients holistically and in teams, skills now taught more frequently in allopathic physicians’ education for the MD. Nationally, about 60% of DO’s practice family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics, compared to 28% of MD’s.
Potential Impact of Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Economists estimate that the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine will contribute about $1.2 billion dollars to the Kansas economy. The enrollment goal of 560-70 medical students and the focus on recruiting doctors to practice in Kansas will help to address a major problem for the Wichita community and the state of Kansas; that is, access to healthcare.
Thinking About Making a Difference
Ronnie summed up his long-term leadership on behalf of high-quality healthcare. “I am very proud. I seem to have been able to connect successfully with others in our community to make a difference. Originally, I was promoted for board service by physicians. I was fortunate to be involved in having input into key decisions. Serving on these boards kept me looking ahead to what I could do, how I could serve Wichita and the state of Kansas. Board work requires participating in think tanks and other training activities. I have gotten an outstanding education in issues I never expected to learn about. Part of my value comes from the fact that I have a lot of contacts in the city and in the state. Beyond that, I have been able to see the baton, pick it up and run with it. Helping my community become better served, making this a better place to live, work, and raise a family – that has been invaluable for me. ”
Looking ahead to what needs to happen next for community health and growth , Ronnie observed, “Five or ten years from now, the scope needs to be far beyond Wichita and the state of Kansas. We need to start teaching young board members about training osteopathic physicians and thinking beyond locally. They will be in position to create a better future.”
Many thanks to Ronnie for providing the information for this article.
Ronnie Troy has written several stories for this website that have been popular with readers. Click on the underlined titles below to read more.
Coordinating various organizations into general, public health services is a complex and labor intensive social/political effort coupled with comprehensive intellectual science. Ronnie’s article reveals the structure of that cooperative effort. I have family in western Kansas who have had to come to Wichita for specialized cardiac care and various cancer treatments. Knowing that solutions exist is not reassuring until one can use those services. Air Ambulance services have attracted private pilots to donate services, and commercial arrangements are sometimes available to remote sites. Reaching the need is critical when you need it! Ronnie’s job does not really have an ending as medical services keep on growing in spare populated areas.
Many central and western states need this organizational plan for medicine. Ronnie’s contribution is quite important.
This resonates because my father was injured playing football (Yes, Fred…), and my grandmother was told he wouldn’t walk by several MDs. An osteopath got him back, I’m told. My best friend in college became a DO as was his father, and I spent happy weekends visiting him on the South Side at the Chicago College of Osteopathy. You also get at the challenges of boards. Most people on them feel they are accomplished somehow, yet no one can order or really outrank others. Initials before and after a name are irrelevant, certainly outside a specific field (a reason I am not Prof x, PhD). Nonprofits can also be maddening in that virtue-signaling eclipses a commitment to deadlines and a specific output, I’ve observed. Well done. Congratulations!
Great work, Ronnie. What an awesome contribution to the community! I’ve seen osteopaths on a couple of occasions and been favorably impressed. I had no idea you are involved in healthcare. I spent many years in hospice in social work and bereavement.