Why can’t people be guided and motivated by what is in the best interests of Kansas as a whole rather than allowing selfish interests, egos, politics, greed and other motivations to muddy the water and turn what could be a glorious opportunity into an ugly and dirty mess?

A year ago, the Kansas University Hospital, with the assistance of KU Medical Center, was growing into a truly outstanding medical care facility. A year ago, the Kansas Bioscience Authority was blossoming into one of the nation’s most innovative organizations to foster and encourage the development of bioscience-related jobs and industries.

Unknown a year ago was the fact that a small group of Kansas City leaders, joined by KUMC Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Atkinson, KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway and several others were putting together a plan to weaken KU Hospital and KUMC in an effort to help strengthen Kansas City’s St. Luke’s Hospital.

The planning was done in secret. No one at KU Hospital was a part of the original planning, and no Kansas legislators or members of the Kansas Board of Regents were informed of the scheme. It is unclear when Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was brought into the secret deal.

Today, this has become a major power struggle. Those engineering the plan had hoped to have an agreement sealing the deal by early this past January. Subsequent “deadlines” have come and gone with no action, and various threats have been nothing but a lot of tough-sounding talk.

Today marks another such deadline and, once again, there is no agreement and it isn’t likely there will be an agreement between KU Hospital and KUMC for some time.

It’s likely the hospital board will draw up a specific agenda of what it is willing to do with the medical center in the way of dollars, the governance or control of doctors, the number of residents it would be willing to provide to St. Luke’s and the giveaway of the KU name to St. Luke’s.

Along with this is the matter of who eventually will serve on the KU Hospital Authority board. The governor has tried – unsuccessfully, so far – to pack this board to force the hospital into an agreement with the medical center and St. Luke’s.

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On the surface, it might appear everything is fine with the Kansas Bioscience Authority. For the first two years of its existence, the KBA compiled an excellent record. Jobs were created, new bioscience-related businesses moved to Kansas, and several existing companies expanded their operations and added jobs.

Groundwork was laid for the KBA-Kansas State University park in Olathe, and there already are several serious inquiries about significant developments at the site. It is going to be a great asset.

Unfortunately, however, egos, politics and selfish interests have entered the KBA, and what only a few years ago appeared to be a tremendous asset for the state now is in danger of turning into another state agency mired in the usual game of political influence and selfish interests. Finger-pointing has become the game of the day.

If Kansas should be among the finalists for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, great credit will be assumed by KBA President Tom Thornton, but if the state doesn’t make it, the president and others will try to blame past KBA Chairman Clay Blair. This is a phony charge!

Much is being made of an upcoming KBA “stakeholders luncheon” on July 10 at which KBA officials will outline KBA’s vision, its “extraordinary success” and the unity of the organization as it enters the new fiscal year. The governor and Senate President Steve Morris are expected to deliver remarks.

The fact of the matter is that the KBA currently is embroiled in a serious internal struggle among directors, the governor, university leaders and some tied in with the hospital mess. It’s all happened within the past year, with the governor, Thornton and one or two trustees involved in this matter. Why does the governor want to become so involved?

The KBA board was supposed to be an independent body, free of politics and able to act as an authority, not the usual state agency. Board members were supposed to put aside politics, and the governor was to keep hands off. But the success of KBA and the likely availability of close to $580 million, along with egos and control of the board all have entered the picture. The state is the loser. Don’t be surprised if there is a major attempt to raid the $580 million KBA “cookie jar.” The KU Medical Center offers a good example.

It is not a pretty picture.

Also playing a role in the both the hospital and KBA controversies are the Kansas Board of Regents, the Greater Kansas City Life Sciences leadership, the behind-the-scenes wishes of some people associated with Stowers Institute, senior officials at KU and KSU, some at KUMC who are out to destroy anyone who doesn’t fall in line to support the Atkinson/Hemenway blueprint for KU and St. Luke’s, and the usual lackeys who want to saddle up with those they think will offer them the most personal benefits.

Kansas has so many opportunities, so many assets and so many individuals who want to help their state become an even finer place in which to live, work and play. But because of the selfishness, greed, egos, political motivations, insecurity and lack of character of so many in strategic positions, the state’s opportunities are being severely handicapped.

It’s a shame and the saddest part of the story is that it didn’t have to happen this way. There are bound to be successes, but the opportunity for even greater numbers of successes has been damaged. In today’s intense competition among all states for economic development, any Kansas weakness can and will be exploited to the state’s detriment.