Hospital Administration

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Gene Meyer comes to Boone Health with over 35 years of hospital CEO experience. In 2016 he retired after serving as President and CEO of Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, KS. During Gene’s 19 years with the independent community hospital it received numerous state and national honors, including annual recognition from 2013 to 2016 as one of the nation’s Top 100 hospitals by Truven Health Analytics.

Since leaving Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Gene has served as Executive in Residence for the graduate program in Healthcare Administration at the University of Kansas Medical Center and  has been a Consulting Principal with PYA Consulting.  Gene previously served as a Transition Executive at Boone Health in 2020.

Chief Operations Officer

Ms. Smith is a registered professional nurse and senior executive responsible for overseeing the daily operational functions of Boone Health.

She graduated in 1991 from the Sinclair School of Nursing at University of Missouri in Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Her practice of nursing was focused in adult critical care and management.  In 1998, she received a Master of Science in nursing from the Sinclair School of Nursing.  

Ms. Smith practiced as an advanced practice nurse in trauma services, coordinating patients throughout the continuum of care and providing clinical services.  

She re-entered the field of nursing leadership and was recruited to Boone Hospital Center in 2006 as the director of patient care services.  During her tenure, she has held multiple nursing leadership positions and was the first service line director for cardiac services until she was promoted to vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer in 2015.

In 2017 she took on responsibility as VP Ancillary Operations until she was promoted in 2020 to Chief Operations Officer in addition to Chief Nursing Officer.

Ms. Smith is a member of the Missouri Organization for Nurse Leaders, American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Leaders, is board-certified as a Nurse Executive, and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

She currently serves as a board member for Boone Hospital, Visiting Nurses, Inc. and other community boards.

Chief Financial Officer

Edward J. Clayton, CPA, MBA joined Boone Health in August of 2022 as the Chief Financial Officer.

Prior to joining Boone, Ed served as the President and CEO of Phelps Health in Rolla, Mo., where he had previously served as Phelps Health Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Ed received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting at Southern Illinois University and his Master’s in Business Administration from Webster University in Rolla.

Senior Vice President of Provider Services

Chad Pew joined Boone Health in 2021 as the Senior Vice President of Provider Services. In this role, Chad will be responsible for the Boone Medical Group and other employed physicians. He will also lead collaborative efforts with independent and referring providers.

Chad holds a Bachelor’s degree from Chadron State College, an MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is a Medical Technologist MT (ASCP).  He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Chad began his career as a medical technologist working in hospital laboratory. He has over 20 years of healthcare experience, ten of those in an executive role.  Most recently Chad was Interim CEO of a hospital in Washington State.  Previous to that he has served as a Chief Operating Officer in Wyoming and in the Lovelace Health System in Albuquerque.

Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Blount has been Boone Hospital Center’s chief medical officer since July 2015.

Dr. Blount holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and a medical degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia. Dr. Blount also completed her internal medicine residency and one year of an infectious disease fellowship at the University of Missouri.

Dr. Blount worked in private practice in internal medicine in Columbia for 28 years and has been an active member of the Hospital’s medical staff for over 30 years. She has served on many committees throughout her career and served as chief of medicine and secretary treasurer of the Boone Hospital’s medical staff before assuming her current position as chief medical officer.

Chief Nursing Officer

Shannon Kuczynski, MSN-A, MHSA, RN, NE-BC joined Boone Health in August of 2022 as the Chief Nursing Officer.

Shannon grew up in Columbia, attending David. H. Hickman High School before earning her degrees at the University of Kansas – Kansas City.

Shannon brings 28-years of nursing experience, 25 in leadership, having most recently served as Division Vice President, Service Lines and Division Chief Nursing Informatics Officer for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in Overland Park, Kansas. While there, Shannon specialized in workflow optimization and transforming data into usable knowledge.

Chief People Officer

Peter Gloggner, SHRM-SCP returned to Boone Health in 2023 as the Chief People Officer.

Previously, Peter served as the Vice President of Human Resources at Calvert Health in Prince Frederick, Maryland. Prior to his time in Maryland, Peter served as the Chief Human Resource Officer at Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida.  Peter received his Bachelor of Health Science in Health Services Management from the University of Missouri and his Master’s in Business Administration from William Woods University. Peter started his career as a Communications Supervisor and then Manager of Human Resources & Training at Boone Hospital Center.

Peter holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration for William Woods University and is a Senior Certified Professional – Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM-SCP).

Chief Information Officer

Mr. Woodward began his career at Boone Hospital Center in 1993, leading the implementation for the hospital’s first Electronic Medical Record (EMR). In 1999 he expanded his role to include management of desktop ​support, IT help desk, system integration, clinical applications and data center operations.

Mr. Woodward has over 30 years of IT experience, the majority of which is in the health care industry. In addition to his work at Boone Hospital Center, Mr. Woodward has supported the installation of technology and clinical application solutions for multiple hospitals throughout the BJC HealthCare system. Most recently, Mr. Woodward was selected to help lead the Epic EMR implementation for 14 hospitals and two medical groups within BJC.

Mr. Woodward has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri.

Director of Legal Services

Kate Pitzer serves as Boone Hospital’s head of Legal Services and has been with the organization since 2011. Her responsibilities include physician and other strategic agreements and transactions; physician relationships, including Stark and anti-kickback issues; medical staff matters; corporate governance; and regulatory issues.

Prior to joining Boone Hospital, Ms. Pitzer was a partner in the Van Matre Law Firm and worked for Robins Kaplan in Washington, D.C. and Spencer Fane in St. Louis. She holds a double degree in Music and Business from DePaul University in Chicago, 1998, and a Juris Doctor degree from the Washington University School of Law, 2001.

She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, Missouri Bar Association and Missouri Society of Health Care Attorneys, and was a Columbia Business Times “Top 20 Under 40” award winner, Class of 2009.