A doctor at Kansas University Hospital died last weekend after a snowboarding accident in Breckenridge, Colo.

James P. McLean, 33, of Leawood, came to KU Hospital and the staff of KU Medical Center last year and was preparing to begin his second semester at the academic medical center, said hospital spokesman Dennis McCulloch.

“We were planning a major expansion of our spine program, and he had a real background in that area,” McCulloch said. “Because of his rehab background, he had a real interest in the patients. He wanted to build a program that was patient-focused, and we were very supportive of that.”

Summit County Coroner Joanne Richardson says McLean died of a fractured neck when he landed on his head after going airborne at the ski area’s terrain park Sunday. Richardson said McLean was wearing a helmet.

“Shocked doesn’t describe our reaction here,” McCulloch said. “It was unbelievable.”

McLean came to KU in June – after spending time at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago – to be the director of the new Spine Center.

“The residents were very close to him because he’s just come through a fellowship,” McCulloch said. “He was very outgoing and creative and very sure of himself.”

McCulloch said the hospital soon would move forward with finding a new director for the Spine Center.

“We’ll find a new director that has the same commitment to patients,” he said. “We’re going to go forward with it, because of him, because it’s what he would have wanted. He gave us the foundation to go forward.”

Funeral services will be Saturday in Basking Ridge, N.J. Gallaway and Crane Funeral Home in Basking Ridge is in charge of arrangements.

McCulloch said planning was under way for a local memorial service, but no details have been worked out yet.