Kathie Butcher, vice president of medical services at Newman Regional Health, is set to retire at the end of March and will take with her a lifetime of experiences and memories at the hospital.
Butcher began work at the hospital in September 1976 — more than 34 years ago.
“She takes with her a lot of history and a lot of experience,” said Bob Driewer, chief executive officer at Newman Regional Health. “She’s been involved in a lot of departments through the years.”
And she has. Butcher was working in a grocery store in 1976 when she was approached by someone at the hospital inquiring if she wanted to work part time in the medical records department and transcription department while she attended Emporia State University. She ultimately earned at bachelor’s degree from Friends University in human resources management. She took the person up on the offer and made her way through the ranks.
“I really, really liked the work,” Butcher said.
In 1989, Butcher was named the director of the medical records department. The department then was named health information management. She was the director of that department until 2000 and in 2001 the CEO of the hospital asked her if she wanted to apply for an opening in quality risk management.
She did and was offered that job and was named the assistant administrator for quality services. In that position she had several responsibilities including legal compliance, social services, and case management. Her job evolved again in 2009 when she was named the vice-president of medical services, where she has remained.
In that job she took on several new responsibilities including integrating the Newman Medical Partners clinics including Newman Surgical, Newman Pediatrics and Newman Family Medicine. She also developed business plans, including the plan for Newman’s urgent care clinic expected to open in April.
A lot changed in the 34 years Butcher worked at the hospital.
“Technology is the biggest change not only in the office setting but the clinical setting,” Butcher said. “I can remember when I started in the medical records department we had one electric typewriter and one manual.”
The typewriters were followed by work processors in the early 1990s, Butcher said. Then came e-mail.
“E-mail really changed how you communicated and how you got work done,” Butcher said. “You were able to send documents to people and county sent communication to somebody else. It really improved communication.”
The ability to gather and store information has improved drastically through technology, Butcher said. The hospital went from ledger sheets to computerized appointments and admissions lists.
“We are such an informational society,” Butcher said.
Other major changes in the industry are regulatory changes and there are countless agencies regulating the health care industry.
“I think health care is one of them most regulated industries out there,” Butcher said.
Health care reform is one of the many challenges the industry will face in the future.
“It’s like they have the design but not all the policies with it yet,” Butcher said.
Butcher takes with her many memories of the hospital.
“Just the different accomplishments that we as a organization (achieved) through the years,” she said. “And being able to meet regulations and being able to serve the community. What I like about health care is the challenge and that you’re always learning in health care and the passion to do things right. I think that’s one of the things we can be proud of at Newman Regional Health — we are always looking for way to do it right.”
Butcher said she is looking forward to new opportunities in her life, including doing some traveling. Her first destination will be Yellowstone National Park.