Ashley Gustoff (front middle) is the 2025 Van Zelderen Excellence Award winner. She is joined by the other nominees, as well as GCMC CFO Mark Wall (back left) and CEO Chad Butterfield (back right). Photo by Coltrane Carlson-Raccoon Valley Radio
The Greene County Medical Center held a ceremony Tuesday afternoon to recognize some of its team members.
CEO Chad Butterfield kicked things off with highlighting the employees that were celebrating service milestones. There were eight individuals at five years of service and then another six were at ten years. Four other team members were spotlighted for their longevity, including Shelby Ackerman for 15 years, Chad Jones at 20, Dar Zollars for 25 years and Ann Erickson for 30 years of service to the medical center.
Erickson is a Registered Nurse and has served as the Quality Director for the last four years, which presides over the nursing-patient care is best practice and following all rules and protocols. She said she first started at the medical center because she needed a nursing job as she was marrying her husband who is from Greene County. But now, 30 years later, she explained that the team members at the medical center are her “work family.”
“We spend more time together here (at the medical center) than we do at home. So, you know, you become very close. We can read each other’s minds, you know what each other’s thinking, and that leads us to be able when we get in stressful situations to do what we need to do and take care of the patient the best way you can. It just makes you proud to work alongside your friends and neighbors.”
Next, the five nominees for the Van Zelderen Excellence Award were presented. Butterfield shared that the individuals are nominated for the honor by their peers and a peer committee reviews those nominations and selects the recipient that best exemplifies GCMC’s PRIDE of Patient-Centered Care, Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Empathy.. The 2025 winner was Ashley Gustoff with Environmental Services.
Gustoff has been with the medical center for four years and she helps to keep public health, extended care and emergency patient rooms clean and sanitary. She recalled her initial reactions to winning the award.
“It feels really awesome and amazing, hard to believe (and) totally shocked.”
The other nominees included Matt Huddleston with Information Technology, Mary Patterson in Patient Access, Elizabeth Nelson with Public Health and Heather Shipley in the Surgery Department. The full list of the other service milestones that were presented at the event can be found below.
5 Years of Service
Shaunna Hadley
Amanda Helms
Richard Lawrence
Dan Scheuermann
Maddy Smith
Erica Vandenberg
Angie Wadsworth
Avery Walker
10 Years of Service
Tammy Andre
Maribel Castellanos
Susan Clark
April Kniffin
Jayne Peters
Deana Shriver
15 Years of Service
Shelby Ackerman
20 Years of Service
Chad Jones
25 Years of Service
Dar Zollars
30 Years of Service
Ann Erickson