Kragt chosen to head hospital board in 2020

John Kragt was unanimously chosen by his fellow commissioners to be the next chairman of the Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2 board at its regular meeting on Dec. 19.

The nomination for Kragt to lead the five-member hospital board in 2020 was made by outgoing chairman Eric Walker, who was the chairman from 2017-19. Commissioner Stacey Plummer was unanimously selected again to be the board’s vice chair, while Walker was unanimously elected to be the board’s secretary, the position that Kragt previously held in 2018 and 2019.

Kragt is the most recent addition to the hospital board, having been elected to the position in 2017 after running unopposed. He thanked his fellow commissioners for electing him as the board’s next chairman, and joked that he’d try not to screw anything up.

Kragt is an attorney for Carpenter, McGuire & DeWulf P.S., a Ritzville-based law firm that also has offices in Davenport, Odessa, Rosalia and Colfax. He is also the attorney for the city of Ritzville.

Kragt graduated from Ritzville High School in 2003, where he lettered in football, basketball, track & field and golf. He attended Spokane Falls Community College for two years after high school to compete in track & field and earn his associate degree, and then attended the University of Alabama after he was offered an athletic scholarship.

At Alabama, Kragt earned a bachelor’s degree in history and then returned to Washington. He attended Gonzaga University School of Law and graduated in May 2011, and was admitted into the Washington State Bar Association later that year. He also began working at Carpenter, McGuire & DeWulf in 2011, where he has been employed since.

As an attorney, Kragt’s practice includes agribusiness planning for farm families and other farm entities, as well as advising on planning with federal farm programs, such as the Farm Services Agency. He is also involved with transactional work and advises clients in areas of estate planning, probate and Medicaid. He is a member of the Adams, Lincoln and Whitman County Bar Associations, as well as a member of the Ritzville Lions Club.