Oregon RN interested in Kansas (Wichita, Kansas City: low crime, home, movie theater)

[Mermak]

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently a Med/Surg RN in Portland, Oregon, but my wife and I are interested in moving to Kansas/Oklahoma/Nebraska area so we can be closer to my wifes aging parents. Not TOO close, mind you, but within a days drive.

I've been trying to delve into what various parts of Kansas might work well for me without being too much of a culture shock. We're looking for a somewhat smaller town, 20-30,000 or so, give or take, with a fairly sizeable medical center. While I love the idea of working in a community hospital, working in a 15-20 bed hospital would just be wierd for me. The one I work at currently is 400 beds.

If anyone can give me suggestions on places to look, I'd be really appreciative. Heck, if any of you have Oregon experience and could give me an insight on what to expect, I'd love any comments.

Thanks much!

Mermak

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Mermak

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently a Med/Surg RN in Portland, Oregon, but my wife and I are interested in moving to Kansas/Oklahoma/Nebraska area so we can be closer to my wifes aging parents. Not TOO close, mind you, but within a days drive.

I've been trying to delve into what various parts of Kansas might work well for me without being too much of a culture shock. We're looking for a somewhat smaller town, 20-30,000 or so, give or take, with a fairly sizeable medical center. While I love the idea of working in a community hospital, working in a 15-20 bed hospital would just be wierd for me. The one I work at currently is 400 beds.

If anyone can give me suggestions on places to look, I'd be really appreciative. Heck, if any of you have Oregon experience and could give me an insight on what to expect, I'd love any comments.

Thanks much!

Mermak

If you are looking for medium sized towns and smaller I would say Salina, Hays, or Hutchinson.

[gwander]

Can you give us a better general idea about where the inlaws are? There are so many smaller towns in this three state area. To get the small size town with larger hospital, I would suggest that you look at county seats, college towns or at least communities near a larger highway.
As far as distance from relatives goes, we have found that 3 hours is far enough away to seem "far", but close enough to drive back and forth in a day should you need to go on short notice.
(btw, I was born in Portland, but have lived all of my adult life in Kansas.)

[chele123]

Kansas:
Tiny = Meade District Hospital, Meade (brand new hospital, great community)
Smallest = Pratt Regional Hospital, Pratt (an excellent hospital, great community)
Small = Western Plains Regional Hospital, Dodge City (bleh)
Not as Small = Hutchinson (larger but still not overwhelming)
Medium = Wichita (larger with all that that implies - good and bad)
Large = Kansas City (don't know much about it, too big and too far away for me)

Best selection = Wichita or KC

[quesera]

Originally Posted by Mermak

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently a Med/Surg RN in Portland, Oregon, but my wife and I are interested in moving to Kansas/Oklahoma/Nebraska area so we can be closer to my wifes aging parents. Not TOO close, mind you, but within a days drive.

I've been trying to delve into what various parts of Kansas might work well for me without being too much of a culture shock. We're looking for a somewhat smaller town, 20-30,000 or so, give or take, with a fairly sizeable medical center. While I love the idea of working in a community hospital, working in a 15-20 bed hospital would just be wierd for me. The one I work at currently is 400 beds.

If anyone can give me suggestions on places to look, I'd be really appreciative. Heck, if any of you have Oregon experience and could give me an insight on what to expect, I'd love any comments.

Thanks much!

Mermak

Hays has the DeBakey Heart Institute... Hays' population is roughly 20,000.
Salina has the Salina Regional Medical Center... Salina's population is roughly 50,000.
Lawrence has Lawrence Memorial Hospital... Lawrence population is roughly 90,000.
I know you mentioned "small town" but those mentioned above will give you a starting place to explore.

Like gwander said, knowing generally where the in-laws live, we'd be able to point you in more of a specific area. Kansas is a pretty big state.

[Mermak]

Thank you all so much for your replies!

Originally Posted by gwander

Can you give us a better general idea about where the inlaws are?

Yeah, that would have been smart of me, wouldn't it?

My inlaws live in northwestern arkansas, a little east of Fayetteville.

The main things we're looking for is a safe, family-oriented town, and a fair-sized hospital or medical center. We aren't big shoppers, big on night life, etc. We mostly like staying around town, going out to the river, the park, etc. Heck, if it has a Walmart and a grocery store, and a movie theater, we'll be happy.

Ideally, we're looking for somewhere where we can get a couple of acres without selling a kidney to get it. Liveability is the key factor, though. We want someplace "nice", not someplace where all the quality residents are leaving in droves.

Originally Posted by gwander

(btw, I was born in Portland, but have lived all of my adult life in Kansas.)

Good to hear there are oregonians who have gone elsewhere and been happy! I hope to be one of those in the near future as well!

Thank you again!

Mermak

[jeh]

sent you a message, i hope it's helpful

[Houseslinger]

I just sold a home to a gal in Topeka who came here from Portland. We are bigger than what you are looking for but stop in to see one of our great productions at Topeka Civic Theater!

[KevK]

Salina is where you want to be! Middle of the state, middle of the nation. Big enough for you, small enough for you. Good schools, low crime. Covenient to KC and Wichita.

[gwander]

Hi again.

Check out Emporia, Kansas. It's population is approx. 30,000. They have a 4 year state University with a nursing school, so you know there is at least one decent size hospital in town, maybe more. It's on the edge of what is known as the Flint Hills region of Kansas. Not mountains like you have in Oregon, but very beautiful hills. The National Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is nearby. I think Emporia is going to be approx 4 (?) hours drive from Fayetteville.

Manhattan Kansas pop. is around 40-50,000. It's the home of Kansas State University and is also in the Flint Hills Region. Only pre health programs offered at this university, but they do have 3 hospitals in town. You would be approx 6 (?) hour drive from Fayetteville.

If you really want to get as far away as Nebraska, look at Hastings. Hastings College has a nursing program at Mary Lanning Hospital that is administered by Creighton University (Omaha) So you know it is going to be a fairly decent hospital. Hastings to Fayetteville is probably going to be an 8-9 hour drive though.

You might also want to look around the Springfield, Missouri area. The Missouri/ Arkansas border area is known as the Ozarks. Lots of lovely hills lakes and national forests. Might appeal to someone from Oregon.

Hope some of this helps.