Kirk Hansen, who retired this month as director of Regional Pathology Services, is proud of the growth he’s seen in his time here. RPS, formed more than 50 years ago to provide cutting-edge laboratory testing and consultation for doctors, clinics, and hospitals across Nebraska, continues to expand each year.
Hansen said that when he started as RPS director in 2011, they had 24 employees, about 200 clients, and total revenue of $7.5 million. “Over the years, our plans just really seemed to click, and we had good salespeople, and now at the end of my career, we have about 105 employees, and our revenue at the end of this year will probably be $34 million,” he said, with over 600 clients in 23 different states. RPS performed over 1 million laboratory procedures for its clients in 2024; that number grew to 1.1 million in 2025, and likely will top that in 2026, “so that’s pretty substantial growth.” But Hansen said one other statistic stands out the most to him. “We have a 99% client retention rate, and that’s only because of the service that we provide.” He said something else that distinguishes RPS from other testing labs is the consultation provided by the pathologists here, and the rapid turnaround time.
So why retire now? “I’m old enough,” he said, laughing. “That’s part of it. Honestly, it’s just time for me. I’d been thinking about it for a couple of years. Fortunately, I’m still healthy, but it’s time. My wife’s going to retire a month or two after me, so it’s a good time to go.
“I’m going to miss the people I work with every day here. This job has been fun. And having Dr. Hinrichs and Steve Kuss as my administrator, who was just terrific, and then now with Dr. Khoury, I mean, he gets the outreach, too. The other thing you learn as you get older is how to hire the right people. And we have some of the greatest people. I look at Theresa (Faure), and at Anna (Carpenter), who’s our operations manager, and many others. Our IT people are tremendous. You just figure out how to hire well, and that just makes your job a little bit easier.
“You have people that are tenacious and don’t say no. You can throw things at them, they’re like let me figure it out. The one thing I never wanted to hear was that’s the way we’ve always done it, right, because that doesn’t serve anybody well. And we have people that justcare. And I think everybody understands the culture here; we’re a service business.”
Having great people in place and seeing the growth of RPS makes it easier to leave as well. “Thinking about how far we’ve come, it’s pretty comforting,” he said. “It’s been a fun ride. I have no regrets; I really have no regrets at all.”
Hansen said he and his wife plan to spend more time with their children, who all live in the Omaha area, and they want to travel. “There’s a lot of places that we want to go. I’m looking forward to that.”