A Heartfelt Conversation
In a very special final session, President and CEO Paul Kempinski, MS, FACHE, welcomed CM patient and University of Kansas Jayhawk Lanayah Rivera to the stage.
The Tuesday event marked the last CEO Live Connect before Paul’s retirement. Incoming President and CEO Alejandro (Ale) Quiroga, MD, MBA, will begin Jan. 2.
“My last official day as CEO will be January 1, but I am super excited to welcome Ale to Children's Mercy,” Paul told Live Connect attendees. “He is going to be a great leader here and take Children's Mercy into its next phase of evolution.”
Lanayah will celebrate her 5-year transplant anniversary this coming January. She was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in 2019 and received a heart transplant at Children’s Mercy in January 2020.
The road from transplant patient to journalism student and American Heart Association volunteer hasn’t been easy for this “courageous, determined, resilient” young woman. As Jami Gross-Toalson, PhD, Director of the Thrive Program at the Ward Family Heart Center, described, Lanayah’s transplant experience made her feel disconnected from her high school peers. Instead of the typical friend-drama woes, Lanayah was worried about post-transplant survival.
"Lanayah experienced mental health struggles ... but Lanayah did not give up,” said Dr. Gross-Toalson. “She did the work. She asked for help. Today, Lanayah is thriving at KU, and she has a huge team of people here at Children’s Mercy cheering her on.”
Hospital pastime leads to professional goals
Lanayah credited her family for being her constant supporters, but she also had another source of inspiration during her hospital stays.
“I discovered football while here at Children’s Mercy,” Lanayah shared. “It made me feel like a normal person ... just getting to sit back and watch my favorite team win some games."
That inpatient passion led her to her journalism school concentration: Sports Media & Society, with a focus on football. Her goal is to manage social media for a football team, but she turned down Paul’s suggestion to work for his favorite, the Penn State Nittany Lions. “I think I’ll stick with the AFC North,” Lanayah laughed.
In the future, she hopes to open doors for other women in a male-dominated field — and raise cardiac arrest and mental health awareness in the sports industry. “I’m a firm believer that women can do anything, thanks to the amazing women in my life, like my mom and my Aunt Mindy,” Lanayah said.
When Paul asked her what she was most proud of accomplishing in her journey so far, Lanayah said surviving a “ruthless” disease, having the courage to open up about her mental health and finishing high school.
“My doctors know that high school was very hard for me, and there were days that I just felt like giving up and dropping out,” she said. “But my senior year, I had the chance to go to my school’s alternative high school, and I completely turned everything around and was able to graduate about a month early.”
The interviewee becomes the interviewer
As a budding journalist, Lanayah had a few questions of her own for Paul. When she asked what advice he would give to college freshmen, Paul said he hopes they will remember that experiencing challenges helps us become the best versions of ourselves. And as for what makes Children’s Mercy different from other hospitals? That one was easy for him:
“I have had the absolute honor to witness and hopefully support 9,000 people doing much more than what’s in their job descriptions to take care of amazing young people like yourself — and doing it with grace, compassion, competence and a great deal of caring,” answered Paul.
Lanayah also took the opportunity to ask Paul if he could help get her “heart jar” back. Former care team members in the audience explained the long-running inside joke: Sometimes hearts removed during transplants are preserved to help medical students learn about different conditions; Lanayah would tease her doctors about tracking hers down.
“When I started college, my icebreaker was, ‘Do you want to see my heart?’” said Lanayah, who has pictures of both her old and new hearts, if no heart jar. “I made a lot of friends through that line.”
To close the session, Lanayah asked Paul what he would miss most about Children’s Mercy. “It’s moments like this,” he shared.
"It’s those moments observing the impact we have,” Paul said. “Our vision to create a world of wellbeing for all children — it’s big. It’s audacious. But it’s when I see an amazing team member doing that in real time that has created memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to lead this amazing organization. Continue on that journey, no matter what challenges you encounter. Keep pushing through because it is worth it: You are improving the lives of children and families.”