Pacific Lutheran University story.
When Leah Butters ‘15 decided to major in environmental studies she didn’t have healthcare marketing in mind. Actually, she didn’t have any specific professional sector in mind. The PLU Softball stand-out just knew she wanted to be in the business of service and care.
“What I liked about the major was it was interdisciplinary,” she explains. “I wanted to be prepared for an open-ended career.”
As an undergraduate, Butters interned with the Oregon Environmental Council and Citizens for a Healthy Bay. After graduation, she spent a year as the Community Engagement and Marketing Coordinator at Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity, followed by almost four years as a marketing manager at the Alaska Airlines Credit Union.
Butters is now the recruitment marketing team leader at MultiCare Health System. She oversees all of MultiCare’s recruitment marketing, managing virtual hiring events, websites, social media, and more. “I love getting to do all of those different pieces,” she says. “It just makes it so interesting. Every day is different.”
She also coordinates partnerships with Indeed, Linkedin, and other advertising partners to make sure critical positions are reaching the eyes of qualified candidates.
A logo for PLU’s Lute Powered story series. Lute Powered is hand written in black below a hand-drawn half sun
“Our main marketing team at MultiCare is focused on our patients and communities here locally, but in recruitment we’re campaigning to nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals nationwide, so it’s a huge marketing operation,” she says. “Recruitment marketing is a little bit different, but, ultimately, we’re just trying to connect the best candidates with our opportunities.”
Butters started at MultiCare in January 2021. She knew that the Coronavirus she was beginning to read about in the news may become a serious issue, but she could have never imagined the whirlwind that has been the last two years.
“When the pandemic hit it shook up our team, and I wound up with a lot more responsibility very quickly,” she says. “Our team is just continually thinking of what else we can do, and growing, and trying to support the organization to the best of our abilities throughout this difficult time.”
Butters always connects her work back to mission, values and service. She thinks often of an observation made frequently by her director – that recruiting great employees is the first step to providing great patient care.
“Thinking like that always motivates me and reminds me how crucial our work is.”
