The top administrator of the VA Butler Healthcare System has announced he will be stepping down.
Jon Lasell Jr. told our newsroom Tuesday that his last day at the facility will be Friday, although he will use leave through late July.
“I spend my day here taking care of veterans and I have a veteran at home that I’m not able to take care of and that’s my father who is a World War II veteran,” Lasell said. “He’s 90 years old and he lives by himself and he’s not doing great…and I’m the one that needs to go and take care of him. He doesn’t have anyone else. He’s the reason that I am who I am and I owe that to him.”
Lasell came to Butler in September after working as the chief of staff at a U.S. Army Command Healthcare Center in Texas.
Lasell says he has enjoyed how much the Butler community supports veterans and how dedicated the staff at VA Butler has been to vets.
“I tell people all the time that Butler is like Disney Land,” he said with a chuckle. “You walk in here and the veterans give a smile…the staff comes up to you and asks what they can do for you, they don’t wait for you to ask them. They are greeting you with a smile. My other take away is how great the employees are here at Butler and how veteran-focused they are.”
According to Lasell, a nurse executive will step into the acting director role until a new director is named.
