Dr. Gilbirds serves as CMO for Saint Luke’s North and four critical access hospitals across Kansas and Missouri, providing strategic and clinical leadership across diverse community and rural settings within Saint Luke’s Health System–BJC West Region. A board-certified family physician with geriatric qualifications and more than 30 years of experience, he champions quality, safety, credentialing modernization and physician engagement initiatives aligned with system priorities. In 2020, he served as physician champion for the launch of a centralized credentialing committee spanning eight hospitals, streamlining delegated payer enrollment processes, reducing administrative burden and driving significant revenue improvement. He also serves as CMO of Saint Luke’s Care, a physician-led organization aligning more than 900 employed and independent physicians through evidence-based practice teams across 13 specialties to reduce variation and advance value-based care. Under his leadership, Saint Luke’s Care has become a regional model for clinical integration supported by advanced informatics and standardized pathways. Dr. Gilbirds is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve colonel and graduate of advanced healthcare delivery improvement training.
