Meet Kris LaHote: Resilient Leader, Dedicated Mentor, Cancer Warrior
At Conduit Health Partners, our team is the heart of our mission — dedicated, inspiring and resilient. We’re proud to spotlight Kris LaHote, manager of our Program Management Office. Kris’s story is one of professional excellence, mentorship and incredible personal strength.
Leading Behind the Scenes
Kris has been with Conduit Health Partners for eight years, serving as manager of the Program Management Office. In this role, she oversees client implementations, legal contracts and billing and finance, and no two days are ever the same. Her wide-ranging responsibilities help ensure Conduit Health Partners’ behind-the-scenes operations run smoothly, ultimately supporting our mission to improve patient care.
Even though her work happens largely behind the scenes, she takes pride in knowing the efforts of her team have a meaningful impact on patients’ lives:
“I love knowing that we are ultimately improving patient care for our clients.”
Inspired by Leadership
When asked what drew her to this role, Kris credits Conduit Health Partners’ president, Cheryl Dalton-Norman, as a major influence:
“Being able to work with Cheryl was a big part of my decision. She is a very inspirational leader and mentor.”
Living with Purpose
Kris’s personal story is a testament to resilience and positivity. She lives with stage IV metastatic breast cancer that has spread to her bones and liver. Yet she continues to work and live life on her own terms:
“Being able to continue to work and live my life gives me a sense of control over an illness that ultimately, I have no control over. The first time I had breast cancer was 14 years ago and I felt such a loss of control. The second time I was diagnosed 4 years ago, I flipped the script and had much more of a say in my treatments and how I worked through them.”
She goes on to share:
“This time it’s all about finding joy in the little things because this time it’s incurable and something I will just have to live with.”
Outside of work, Kris finds empowerment through kickboxing and loves spending time with family and friends.
Giving Back
Kris is also a dedicated volunteer with The Victory Center, a nonprofit providing holistic support services to cancer patients and their caregivers. At the organization’s wig bank, she helps patients going through chemotherapy regain confidence:
“Losing my hair was traumatic to me because it ‘branded’ me as a cancer patient, and I am so much more than that. I love being able to help other patients who often arrive in tears to walk out with a smile.”
In addition to volunteering, Kris participates in Over the Edge for Victory, a unique fundraising event where she will rappel down one of Toledo’s tallest buildings — despite being terrified of heights — for the third time this September. This fearless act raises funds and awareness for The Victory Center’s vital mission.
If you’d like to learn more or support Kris’s fundraiser, you can visit her Over the Edge Victory page.
Thank you, Kris, for inspiring us all with your courage, dedication and heart. We are proud to have you on the Conduit Heath Partners team.
