By Jim Fedele
Happy New Year! Normally, I like to use this article to reflect on the past, make some new resolutions and talk about the future of our industry. However, I would like to take this article to pay tribute to a friend and coworker that I had the pleasure of working with for 30 years, Craig Sampsell. By the time this article prints it is likely that Craig will have retired and be moving on with his next chapter in life. I would like to share a little about how extraordinary his career was, and his unwavering dedication to his customers.
Craig and I started six months apart, his first day was October 1989 and mine was April 1990. Craig graduated from Penn College in May of 1989. I remember first meeting Craig. He wasn’t all that friendly to my 23-year-old self as I may have been a bit cocky back then. The career of biomedical technician was not Craig’s first occupation. Craig had started out his adult life as a contractor building houses with his dad, but his career was cut short by an unfortunate car accident that left Craig paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately, Craig did not let this disability impede his ability to work and enjoy life. I was uncomfortable working with Craig in the beginning as he never wanted anyone to help him get around. Within a few months, I learned to treat Craig just like any of the other techs and soon almost forgot he had a disability. Craig and I became pretty good friends and worked together often.
Craig made it easy to forget he had a disability, he did more PMs and work orders than most of the techs in the shop. He managed more pieces of equipment than most of the techs and serviced all the outside doctor’s office equipment. He never complained about having to get in and out of his vehicle to service them. At the time he was driving a jacked-up Chevy 4X4 pick-up with big tires and tricked out motor. He would literally climb in the truck on his own. Craig is also very smart. He and I studied together for six months to pass the certification exam. I don’t think I would have passed it the first time around without his help.
Craig’s customer service skills were exceptional, he would try to solve every problem as if his own life depended on the solution. From scavenging parts off old equipment to calling a machine shop to fabricate a part, he often left no stone unturned when repairing equipment. He would also look at any equipment a customer had that needed service – no matter whose responsibility it was. Craig would start at 6 a.m. and stay until he had every problem triaged, often long past his official quitting time. He rarely took long vacations, he used to tell me it was because he loved coming to work so much. The truth is that he hated being bored. One true testament to Craig’s dedication to his customers is when he took vacation, his customers would wait to report problems until he came back. This used to drive me crazy. I didn’t want Craig to come back from vacation with a bunch of work to do.
Craig has received much recognition for his efforts, he received many thank you cards and free meal passes for his “go beyond” efforts. He never ate in the cafeteria and would collect the meal passes like trading cards. He was even awarded Care Employee of the Month. This award typically goes to nurses, he was the first in our department to get it. The award required narratives and recommendations from many people in different departments. The narratives included details about how Craig was always responsive, friendly, tenacious and dedicated to solving their problem.
For me, Craig has been a great friend. There has never been anything I asked of him he didn’t do. We certainly have grown up together and gone through many phases of life together. We have always supported and learned from each other. It is going to be hard to replace him and his 30 years’ experience doing this job.
To my friend and colleague Craig Sampsell, I wish you well and godspeed in your next phase of life. I will miss you. Thank you for your dedication to our clinicians and patients for the past 30 years.
Jim Fedele, CBET, is the senior director of clinical engineering for UPMC. He magazines six Susquehanna Health hospitals. He has 30 years of HTM experience and has worked for multiple service organizations. Send questions or comments to Editor@MDPublishing.com.
