Butler Memorial Hospital employees urge management to value staff
I’ve been a nuclear medicine technologist at Butler Memorial Hospital for 20 years.
I was born here, I’ve lived in Butler all my life, and my daughter was born at Butler Memorial just last year. To say this hospital is part of my life would be an understatement.
For most of my career, I was incredibly proud to work at the hospital. The quality of care we provided to the Butler community was a source of tremendous pride.
But since the merger with Excela two years ago, things have changed. Many of us feel that Butler Memorial has lowered its standards to meet Excela’s, rather than the other way around.
Resource cuts have become the norm. Staff are leaving faster than they can be replaced. And the pressure on those of us who remain grows by the day. When staffing is allowed to dwindle, patient care suffers. It’s that simple.
When my wife was pregnant last year, my colleagues and I received an email — out of the blue — telling me that my spouse would be dropped from my health insurance within weeks because she was eligible for coverage through her employer. There was no discussion, no warning.
For me and my colleagues, it was a gut punch. We are the backbone of this hospital. Without us, it doesn’t function. Yet decisions that affect our families, our livelihoods, and the stability within our homes are being made abruptly without our input or consideration.
Since the merger, we’ve lost many excellent employees — people who were vital to this hospital’s success and the care it provides. As a result, management is focused on recruiting new staff. That is good. We need staff. The Butler community needs the hospital to be well-staffed. But we also need the skilled, dedicated caregivers who have kept Butler Memorial running for decades.
High turnover leads to bad outcomes – bad outcomes for you, the community.
Retention matters. Experience matters. The techs who have been here for years are the ones others turn to with difficult cases or questions. Their knowledge helps to ensure accurate tests, timely results, and safe care. When departments turn into revolving doors, it’s the patients who lose out.
If a loved one needed a CT scan to rule out a stroke or brain bleed, you would want the most experienced technologist possible. In my workplace, experience isn’t just a line on a resume. Lives are at stake.
Management has denied raises, cut benefits, and ignored the voices of those who know this hospital best — its front line caregivers. That’s why my co-workers and I are fighting for our first Union contract. We’re not just standing up for ourselves; we’re standing up for our patients, our families, and our community.
We love Butler Memorial. We want it to be the great hospital it once was. But to do that, management must start valuing the people who make it great — its caregivers.
Donnie Geibel, CNMT, RTN, is a nuclear medicine technologist at Butler Memorial Hospital.
