For Immediate Release
Contact: Ashley Hartman
Ashley.Hartman@ettp.doe.gov
(865) 574-7231
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, June 28 2017 – Kenneth J. Rueter, President and Chief Executive Officer of URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR), has been elected to the Board of Directors of the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.
UCOR is the Department of Energy’s lead environmental cleanup contractor for the East Tennessee Technology Park and other parts of the Oak Ridge Reservation.
Rueter, who began his association with Children’s Hospital as a member of the Development Advisory Board, is the first board member who resides outside of Knoxville. He currently leads a professional management team and more than 1,500 skilled workers as they successfully undertake the first-ever complete cleanup of a gaseous diffusion complex. Under Ken’s leadership, UCOR is completing cleanup of government gaseous diffusion facilities ahead of schedule, under budget and safely, achieving Star status in DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program.
A regional business leader, Rueter represents UCOR in organizations that promote economic development, entrepreneurship, recreational opportunities, education and children’s advocacy. He is also a member of the national board of directors of the Center for Construction Research and Training and is the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Management Division Award presented annually by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Ken and his wife, Ruth, have demonstrated a passion for Children’s Hospital and its services. Each year, the Rueters host an auction benefitting the hospital as part of the UCOR senior management holiday party. As a company, UCOR annually contributes funds raised through a variety of activities, including employee contributions and the annual holiday Fantasy of Trees.
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital is a private, independent, not-for-profit, 152-bed pediatric medical center. The hospital’s primary service area includes 16 counties in East Tennessee, and its secondary service area includes counties in southwest Virginia, southeast Kentucky and western North Carolina.
It is certified by the state as a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center (CRPC), Tennessee’s highest level of certification for pediatric hospital care. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and is a member of Child Health Corporation of America, Hospital Alliance of Tennessee, Children’s Hospital Alliance of Tennessee, Tennessee Hospital Association and National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI).
The hospital and its affiliates, including numerous pediatric physician practices, employ about 1,800 individuals in full-time, part-time and as-needed positions.
