After more than eight years in charge at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Gene Meyer is taking on an additional set of healthcare responsibilities – this time for a statewide organization.

Meyer, the hospital’s president and chief executive officer, is the new chairman for the Kansas Hospital Assn. Meyer’s election and appointment were announced during the association’s annual meeting Nov. 7-9 in Wichita.

The association is a private, not-for-profit membership association of organizations involved in health care in Kansas. It provides support for members through lobbying efforts, data products and educational programs.

Meyer has been LMH’s top administrator since May 1997. Since his arrival, the hospital has expanded with a free-standing outpatient center – LMH South, southwest of Kasold Drive and Clinton Parkway – and added acute rehabilitation services, a wound-healing center, oncology services and expanded cardiology services.

Meyer has been working in health care for more than 25 years.