Months after threatening strike, unions optimistic about Butler Hospital’s new era
Four and a half months after a labor dispute that threatened a strike, the hospital technicians at Butler Memorial Hospital are looking forward to a new era under the management of the West Virginia University Health System.
The acquisition of Butler Memorial Hospital by WVU Medicine became official on Thursday, Oct. 1, when the university’s health system completed the acquisition of Independence Health System and all five hospitals in the system, including Butler.
Don Geibel, a nuclear medicine technologist at the hospital, expressed optimism at what lies ahead.
“We are excited and optimistic about the completion of the merger with WVU,” Geibel said. “We look forward to expanded services, needed renovations and enhancements and are hopeful this move will help our patients and community.”
“I believe this transition has the potential to bring new resources, expanded opportunities and continued growth while strengthening the care we provide to our patients,” said Donna Erskine, a CT tech at the hospital. “I’m hopeful that this partnership will help secure a strong future for Butler Memorial Hospital and allow us to continue building on the dedication and hard work of our staff.”
According to Geibel, all Independence Health employees — including himself — received an email as they came into work on Thursday from Albert L. Wright, Jr., WVU Medicine’s CEO.
“It was welcoming us and saying that they’re in the long haul with us,” Geibel said. “It was very positive. They said they look forward to working with us, and they understand that there's a legacy of good patient care that we've had for many years and they want to continue that and expand upon it.”
Earlier this year, Geibel — who has worked at the hospital for over two decades — played a key role in the negotiation of the first union contract for technicians at Butler Memorial Hospital. During this spring, contract talks with administration at Independence broke down, leading to picketing in March and a threatened strike in May.
“Since our hospital’s merger with Excela Health in January 2023, techs and nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital have weathered financial instability, chronic understaffing, deep cuts to benefits and resources and alarmingly high staff turnover,” said respiratory therapist Monica Johnson, co-president of the technicians’ union and a 14-year veteran of the hospital.
On May 13, just six days before the strike was scheduled to begin, the technicians and the hospital reached an agreement on the contract. Since then, Geibel says, labor relations have dramatically improved.
“We've had two labor management meetings, and they've been almost completely positive with very little disagreement,” Geibel said. “It's still moving a little slow, but we also kind of understand that H.R. and management is very overwhelmed right now.”
Butler Memorial Hospital’s nurses are covered under a separate contract ratified in May 2025. It lasts until 2028.
Johnson said she is hoping for better results from the new acquisition than the results she saw come from the merger that created Independence, which occurred between Butler Health System and Westmoreland County-based Excela Health at the start of 2023.
“We’re looking to [WVU] Medicine to respect our contracts and to demonstrate a renewed commitment to our patients and the caregivers who serve the Butler community,” Johnson said. “We can’t afford another merger that leaves caregivers shouldering a patient care crisis of the system’s own making.”
Shannon Herrington, who leads the nurses’ union, is hopeful as well.
“We’re hoping that everything’s going to get better and communication will get better,” Herrington said. “Our merger with Excela was not perfect. They brought Butler Hospital down to Excela’s level instead of bringing Excela up to Butler Hospital’s level. We want that to change.
“Butler Hospital is a great hospital, but the merger with Excela changed things for the worse, and not for the better. We are hoping that WVU will let us be the best in this region.
In the lead-up to the merger, officials from WVU Medicine and Independence Health stated that all Independence staff members “in good standing” will remain in place for at least one year.
Geibel says he isn’t concerned about what the university is planning to do with the hospital and its staff, based on what he’s heard about their changes to Uniontown Hospital since they took control of it in 2020.
“I know they took over the hospital in Uniontown, and my understanding is that it's been a good thing for their hospital and their community,” Geibel said. “They've expanded services, and they've hired more people rather than letting them go. They’ve talked about this being their northern hub, so I'm cautiously optimistic that they're going to be hiring more than they're going to be letting go.”
Herrington is also cautiously optimistic that the merger will lead to greater stability for the hospital and all of its staffers.
“I feel better now that with this merger, my hospital's not going to go anywhere,” Herrington said. “They're not going to put all that money into this hospital and then close it down.”
