As early as 1995, Gregory F. Duick M.D., the Director of Cardiology at a local tertiary care facility and Badr Idbeis M.D., a longtime Wichita cardiovascular surgeon, viewed the deteriorating clinical patient environment in Wichita as problematic. Cardiovascular physicians were being lateralized in the traditional Wichita tertiary hospitals, efficiencies of cardiac care marginalized, physician input reduced, and nursing dissatisfaction rising. Patient care and the ability to take care of patients efficiently was not being advocated nor embraced by tertiary hospitals that were struggling with DRG's and managed care. Even worse, no one was listening.

Philosophically, acute cardiovascular medicine and surgery requires substantial physician input and oversight. The crosswinds of healthcare eroded that important influence or Drs. Duick and Idbeis, ultimately, charted an independent course of action after several attempts to encourage tertiary hospital participation in a revolutionary concept: an independent specialty hospital solely dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular illness. Additionally, the philosophical reaffirmation of the central importance of nursing was emphasized in the setting of streamlined and reduced administration.

On February 15th, 1999, co-founders Drs. Duick and Idbeis and the Kansas Heart Hospital staff celebrated the heart hospital's first patient admission. Since that first admission the Kansas Heart Hospital has become a signature cardiovascular hospital for Wichita and the state of Kansas.