Butler County’s health care industry honors employees at annual breakfast
PROSPECT — It’s not often organizations from the same field gather to honor some of their most dedicated employees to help grow the industry together.
In Butler County, health care agencies and organizations have each other’s backs. That comradery was on display during the Butler County Health Care Consortium’s ninth annual Health Care Worker Recognition Event on Wednesday, March 4 at the Atrium in Prospect.
“Even though on paper we are all competitors, we are all working to make sure the residents of Butler County get the best health care they can,” Kayla Price, co-chair of the consortium said. “We want to make sure people know there are great local options for health care.”
Twenty-nine Butler County health care workers were recognized. They included Isaac Bruce, who works for Butler Ambulance Service as an EMT while also being a student at Butler County Community College’s EMS Academy.
“It is long hours and talking to a lot of people,” Bruce said. “I am very fortunate. EMS found me. I had no prior health care or first responder experience. Timing just worked out when they did the academy, and I took a dive into the unknown and I love it.”
Bruce, who has been with Butler Ambulance Service for almost a year, said he has enjoyed the journey so far. He encouraged those interested in the field to take the risk and try it because that is the only way to truly know if the field is right for you.
Also honored were Kirk Eury and Jeff Roxberry, who have worked at Butler Memorial Hospital for a combined 57 years.
“The medical field is a great field to get into,” Eury, an environmental services technician, said. “There is always going to be a need for it, and as Butler County grows, we will need more people.”
Roxberry, a phlebotomist at Butler Memorial, has been with the hospital for 32 years. He said he can’t imagine working anywhere else.
BC3 President Megan Coval was guest speaker for the event. During her presentation, she said health care is an industry that touches everybody, regardless of background.
“At some point, all of us and our family members are going to need to be cared for, often at our most vulnerable moment in time,” Coval said.
Coval told a short story about the birth of her second daughter during her speech. She said when it came time for the epidural, her husband passed out seeing the large needle. Coval was impressed with how the nurses and doctors adapted to the situation.
“You guys are wired differently,” Coval said as she addressed the crowd. “You possess a steadiness and resilience that not everyone has. You run toward a lot of things people would run from, and for that you have my deep admiration and respect.”
Jan Rodgers, also co-chair of the consortium, said one of the main concerns in the health care industry is the lack of qualified workers, from EMTs to nurses and paramedics.
“Hopefully, this event will bring that profession into the forefront of people’s minds and maybe encourage people to go into training in different areas of the health care fields,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said the event also is designed to bring recognition to health care workers who might not always come to the public’s mind when they think of the industry, such as social workers, maintenance assistants, activities directors and so on.
“You don’t have to be a doctor or nurse,” Rodgers said. “There are a lot of adjacent fields that are supporting in the industry.”
