2018 Health Care Champions Technician: Kent Meador

SBJ photo by Wes Hamilton

Resume Highlights

• Certificate, Lester E. Cox Medical Centers School of Radiologic Technology; ultrasound school certificate, University of Iowa; and associate of science in radiologic technology, Drury University

• Mercy Service Award in 2001

• Helped Mercy become the first ultrasound department in the state to implement an electronic and paperless system for images in 1997

Kent Meador is willing to go the extra mile for his patients as the manager of radiology vascular lab and ultrasound at Mercy Hospital Springfield.

“I am always motivated to do my best for those in need or less fortunate,” he says. “All patients that come to the hospital are vulnerable, scared and in need.”

Meador went above and beyond during his proudest professional moment, when he received a Mercy Service Award in 2001 for aiding a patient with her final request.

“I received a call from a local physician who asked if there was any way for us to perform an ultrasound on the pregnant daughter of a patient, so she would have the experience of seeing her grandbaby through an ultrasound image before she passed,” Meador says.

After receiving proper clearance, the scan was performed.

“The grandmother died a few days later. It was simply the right thing to do,” he says.

In addition to aiding patients, Meador works daily with his staff to help in their professional development.

“Helping and supporting those that are on the front lines of health care is probably my biggest reward,” he says. “Seeing them take great care and receive appreciation from their patients is all I need.”

Those who work with Meador appreciate his commitment to his profession and aid to his peers.

“As a professional, Kent has taught me more than I will ever teach him,” says Ron Saltsgaver, imaging services director at Mercy. “He makes decisions based on what the right thing to do is. He is a champion for quality and safety within our imaging departments, and he is well respected by his peers.”

Meador’s career spans the last three decades, when he started as a CT technologist at Cox Medical Center South in 1988.

“In my early years, I championed ultrasound through studying, practicing and collaborating with our radiologists and technologists to become the best sonographer I could personally be,” he says. “Over the years, I worked with administrators and physicians to obtain and maintain the latest, state-of-the art equipment for our facility so we could be an ultrasound leader in the community.”

The equipment he helped acquire has aided dozens of future technicians in the area.

“In my time at Mercy, we have graduated more than 50 ultrasound students who have gone on to provide ultrasound services throughout southwestern Missouri,” he says.

Meador also has been on the forefront of technological advances in his field by using a picture archiving and communication system before it became the norm in 2004.

“In 1997, our department became the first in the state to move from traditional film to a totally electronic, paperless medium of providing ultrasound images for our radiologists,” he says.

In his spare time, Meador is an avid singer and leads the Grandview Missionary Baptist Church in music and worship, a service he’s provided for the last 12 years.

A 1984 graduate of Hillcrest High School, Meador was student body president and a member of the ’84 class 4A state champion basketball team.