Lassell named new chief of VA Butler Healthcare
Military veteran Jon R. Lasell Jr., the director of business operations and chief of staff at the U.S. Army Medical Command Healthcare Contracting Activity in San Antonio, Texas, has been named the new director of VA Butler Healthcare.
When he starts in the next 30 days, he will replace interim director Alan Petrazzi, who started in May. Petrazzi replaced interim director Patricia O’Kane, who took the job in January. She took over for David Cord, who served as director for two years before requesting a reassignment.
“We are very excited to bring Mr. Lasell on board as the new director of our VA in Butler,” said Dr. Michael Adelman, Veterans Integrated Service Network 4 director. “Mr. Lasell’s experience in the military and in operational leadership will be an asset to VA. We anticipate this appointment will begin within the next 30 days.”
Before his current job, Lasell served as chief operating officer at the Winn Army Community Hospital in Hinesville, Ga., and deputy chief of staff for the Regional Health Command — Central in San Antonio.
Lasell has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Prairie View A&M University and a master’s degree in health care administration from Baylor University. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
In his new role, Lasell will oversee health care services provided to more than 22,000 veterans served by the facility, which has an operating budget of nearly $100 million and nearly 700 employees. The facility has 126 inpatient beds and conducted nearly 200,000 outpatient visits last year.
VA Butler Healthcare also operates outpatient clinics in Clarion, Mercer, Lawrence, and Armstrong counties, as well as in Cranberry Township.
In 2017, the facility opened the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center, which provides outpatient services and has a women’s health clinic. The center is named after Sgt. Maj. Abie Abraham, a World War II hero, Bataan Death March survivor and former prisoner of war, who volunteered at VA Butler Healthcare for 23 years.
Also last year, the facility named its long-term care facility the Sgt. Maj. Joseph George Kusick VA Community Living Center. Kusick, a Bruin resident, posthumously received the Silver Star after being killed in action during the Vietnam War.
