White Named Responder of the Week

Medical Technologist  and Group Lead Pam White is not new to the health care field - she has more than three decades of experience - nine of which have been with Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital.

White was nominated for Responder of the Week in September of 2025, and now again this month.

She first went in to the medical field as a teenager.

"I was working at the hospital in Liberal as a nurses aide," White said. "I always enjoyed that and I was always intrigued by the people who worked in the lab - the testing they did and the instruments they used."

White is one of three who work in the lab at the Ulysses hospital. All three have longevity in their field.

"Carole Egley is our part time person and she has 35 plus years," White said. "The other full time person has 17 to 18 years. We work well together. It is just the three of us and we cover 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

When asked what the hardest part of her job is, White said the hours.

"Here at Bob Wilson - it is call that is hard," she said. "We have 14 hours of call and then we work our shift. We come back again to work a shift again and may have call again that night as well."

The rewarding part of her job is the patients.

"The rewarding part is that your work directly affects your patients," she explained. "For instance, if someone is bleeding out, you are there to cross match units of blood to give them. If a doctor has a patient who has an infection - I was the micro supervisor in Liberal we could identify out the organisms and then the patient can be treated better with the antibiotics that work best for that patient. It's just being able to help the patients that is important."

White feels many don't understand what all a lab technician does.

"A lab tech is one of the unseen people behind the scenes," she said. "People don't notice us. They don't pay attention to us. We are the ones helping people behind the scenes getting patient results to doctors, so doctors can treat patients more effectively. All in all, in the end you may have saved a life."

She thinks many may not realize what lab techs do daily.

"I don't think a lot of people realize what the lab does," she said. "I think many people believe we just draw blood. But, we know if your potassium is low.  We know if you have an infection in your body. If you are anemic we can make sure you get the correct blood type when you need blood. There is a lot more to lab techs than people realize."

White still resides in Liberal with her husband of 43 years. She does maintain an apartment in Ulysses for those days when she has call duty so she is close by when needed.

How did she end up at Bob Wilson?

"They had an opportunity and when I came to interview here, I found it was a very nice, clean, family oriented work place," White said.

White is proud to be a part of the local team.

"There is a large group of people here who work very well together and they have patient care at the top of their list," White said. "And that goes for anyone who works here, not just those who might be considered the 'professional' people. Everyone here from the nurses, X-ray, lab, housekeeping - everybody takes care of the hospital very well for the patients."

White and her husband, who is retired, have a son who has retired from the United States Navy as a Master Chief.

Their daughter is a County Executive Director (CED) for the USDA. She is in charge of the office, according to White.

White is a native of Southwest Kansas.

"I was born and raised in Liberal," she said. "About 20 years ago I traveled for seven years throughout the United States as a traveling technician. I worked at the hospital in Garden City where I was their blooEach emergency responsder who is selected as Responder of the Week is in the running for Responder of the Month every month, and each Responder of the Month is then eligible for Responder of the Year. Winners are picked randomly from all the current nominees via a digital application to be Responder of the Month.

Responders may be nominated more than once.

If you would like to nominate someone for this honor please submit your nomination to news2@ulyssesnews.com. Nominees can be law enforcement officers, 911 dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, military personnel, public health professionals and utility line workers.If you would like to be a part of this program contact the Ulysses News.