Featured Board Member of the Month

     Larry Emerson is Vice President of the NKA and the CEO of the Dialysis Center of Lincoln.   Larry and his wife Karen live in Beatrice, Nebraska.  They have three daughters:  Joslyn is a pharmacist in Chicago; Kit is an audiologist in LasVegas; and their youngest, Chloe, will be attending Rockhurst University in Kansas City on a golf scholarship.

     Originally from North Bend, Nebraska, Larry went to UNL for his undergraduate degree and received his Master’s degree from Central Michigan University.  Prior to working at the Dialysis Venter in Lincoln, Larry worked in Hospital Administration in Nebraska and Kansas.  He has worked in the health field for over 30 years.

     When Larry isn’t working, he enjoys watching sports, especially baseball.  He and a group of friends travel to various major league fields for games.  While he likes Camden Field in Baltimore, he doesn’t have any favorite stadiums, rather he feels they are all unique.   It is the game of baseball that Larry appreciates, he doesn’t follow any particular teams, nor does he favor one team over another.  Larry also likes to snow ski and play golf. 

     Since his profession is directly tied to the mission of the Nebraska Kidney Association, it seemed a natural thing to be involved on the Board.  “Working in the health care system, you can’t help but be drawn to health care organizations.”  Larry explained.

     “The people [Board Members] always impress me.  I am proud of the commitment being made.”  As a member of the NKA board, Larry believes in the importance of being able to tie the efforts of the board to the activities that are affecting people’s lives.  “Tim [Neal, CEO NKA] talks about how what we do impacts the individuals, you can see that clearly.”  He also believes that the best people to maintain local focus, on local patients and their families, are local people. 

     When asked about his goals for the future of the Board and the Association, Larry said he wants to continue to work toward greater public awareness of kidney disease to the community as a whole.  He believes this is possible with educational services, including continued funding for KHEPS (Kidney Health and Education Program) and KEDS (Kidney Early Detection Screening), patient services, and the ability to support patients and families.  “We have to always be improving those services.”

     Larry’s pragmatism made it difficult to think of one limitless wish to make a dramatic difference in the world of kidney disease.  “I see things happen incrementally, with steady improvements.”  At first he thought that his wish would be to keep people from progressing through the stages of kidney disease, to prevent patients from getting progressively worse.  As Larry continued to ponder the possibilities, he realized that something more could be done.  “I would like to maximize transplant potential, to get people to recognize and make the commitment to offer organs to others.  We need to encourage donors and make transplants more available.” 

     It is the vision and commitment of the Nebraska Kidney Association’s Board members, like Larry Emerson, that make it possible to offer support and services to Nebraskans of all ages. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vice President

Larry Emerson

Nebraska Kidney Association