Butler Health System selected as Chamber’s Community Champion
JEFFERSON TWP — As COVID-19 ravaged the county in 2020 and 2021, Butler Health System rose to the challenge. This was at a time when employees treated residents for the virus through ever-changing protocol and at their own peril.
On Monday, Oct. 17, the Butler County Chamber of Commerce demonstrated its appreciation for constant quality care in the county by naming Butler Health System its 19th Community Champion Award winner at a luncheon at Concordia Lutheran Ministries.
Ken DeFurio, president and CEO of the health system, said he was reluctant to accept the award because the caregivers are the true champions when it comes to their dedication during the coronavirus pandemic.
DeFurio remembered looking out the various windows at Butler Memorial Hospital just before Christmas 2020 as the clergy in Butler had arranged a candlelight vigil of grateful residents who stood side by side around the hospital as a gesture of thanks to all who worked there.
He then made the rounds of the various care units, with the last being the intensive care unit, where many late-stage COVID-19 patients succumbed to the virus.
“I was talking to my third or fourth nurse, and I said, ‘How are you doing?’” DeFurio recalled. “She just started crying.”
He learned later that the caregivers he had visited on that 3 to 11 p.m. shift had lost seven COVID-19 patients on that eight-hour shift, including one who was a health system employee.
“As the pandemic hit, we entered into a phase of our careers that we could not imagine,” DeFurio said. “It was tough.”
He said the doctors, nurses, aides, therapists and all caregivers at the hospital continued to come to work each day and do their best, regardless of the pandemic’s wrath.
“Health care heroes is a term that’s used a lot, but I honestly can’t think of a better term for them,” DeFurio said.
He said that although the pandemic is not officially over — the hospital is currently treating 17 patients for COVID-19 — he hopes the worst days are behind the front-line workers.
“It is truly my honor to accept this award on behalf of Butler Health System,” DeFurio said.
Jordan Grady, chamber of commerce president, recalled the near-fatal COVID-19 struggle of his predecessor, Stan Kosciuszko, who realized he needed an ambulance to transport him from his New Castle home to the hospital.
Grady said Kosciuszko persuaded the ambulance driver to make the 45-minute trip to Butler Memorial Hospital, which many — Kosciuszko included — attribute to his survival.
“Butler hospital rose to the challenge (of the pandemic) and battled for the health and safety of our community,” Grady said.
After the lunch and award presentation, attendees pondered the health system’s importance in the county.
Bob Dandoy, Butler mayor, said he bristles when he hears county residents state they use Pittsburgh health care systems because they think they are getting better care.
“All they have to do is look in their own back yard to find exemplary health care,” he said.
He added that he spoke to many people who experienced difficulty when they received their COVID-19 vaccines at sites other than through the Butler system.
“At the Butler Health System, it went off like clockwork,” Dandoy said. “It was so professional.”
Kim Geyer, county commissioner, said health system and county officials collaborated during the pandemic when it struck the county.
“That’s when we really got to experience what a great community health system they really are,” Geyer said. “They have great doctors and nurses and resources.”
She said during the pandemic, school district superintendents throughout the county and the commissioners held a weekly phone call with Butler Health System doctors, in which the superintendents could ask questions about the virus.
“Our school superintendents really appreciated those calls, in fact, so much so that we continued them for two years,” Geyer said.
Dave Zarnick, Butler Township commissioners chairman, said he also appreciates the expertise of the professionals at Butler Health System.
“They are just another example of a shining star that we have here in Butler County,” Zarnick said.
Like DeFurio, Zarnick praised the doctors, nurses, aides and therapists who bravely cared for those fighting a deadly and contagious disease while knowing they could be next.
“Hats off to those people who got us through this,” he said.
Zarnick summed up the thoughts of all those who attended the Community Champion luncheon on Monday.
“Butler Health System is another reason to be glad that you’re from Butler County,” he said.
