By Don Sadler
It’s probably safe to say that very few if any perioperative professionals have had a career like Johnny Kotcher’s. Johnny’s perioperative journey started when he joined the Army in 1981 and scored well in healthcare and medical on the aptitude test.
He was offered several medical-related jobs, including working as a surgical technician.
“I had to start out in the beginner program as a basic combat medic but went straight into the CST program as soon as I finished it,” he says.
After his training, Johnny was stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C., and worked in the OR for three years before being transferred to Wurzburg, Germany for another three years.
“I got out of the Army in 1987 and have been standing at an OR table ever since,” he says.
In his current role, Johnny works as a surgical technician at St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut, where he joined as a traveler in 2019. “After three contracts they asked me to sign on permanently, so I did,” he says. Johnny is also a CST for the Spine Institute of Connecticut, where he works on spine and brain neuro-related cases.
Two years ago, a position opened up at St. Francis as the tissue implant, preference card and neurosurgery coordinator.
“My OCD radar kicked in and I jumped in with both feet, managing all the surgical biological implants, ordering, stocking, auditing and recordkeeping for the hospital and The Joint Commission,” Johnny says. “As I navigate these three positions, my organizational skills are put into overdrive, which is very rewarding.”
During his 40-plus-year career, Johnny estimates that he has been involved in more than 30,000 procedures.
“I’ve been everywhere between your toenails and your scalp,” he says, “but my favorite surgery is neurosurgery. There’s just something so fascinating about the human brain.”
Johnny has also helped deliver more than 1,000 babies via C-section.
“Being part of some amazing surgical teams across the country, I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in some great services,” Johnny says. “I scrubbed pediatric spine for a year and I’ve done cardiac at several hospitals. I showed up at one hospital for an ortho assignment and they said their open-heart tech just quit. ‘Do you want to do hearts?’ they asked. I said, ‘Sure!’ and by the end of the week I was doing them by myself.”
As a CST, Johnny describes himself as the “surgeon’s sous chef. Whatever the surgeon needs for the case I will have prepared and ready for use. There’s a lot of planning and organization involved in setting up the operating room. I only have one patient at a time, so I make sure that patient gets my undivided attention.”
Johnny compares working as a CST to playing chess.
“There is a second, third and fourth action after the first action – boom, boom, boom, that’s called anticipation,” he says. “This is why CSTs have to be on their toes 100 percent of the time. If you as the CST miss a beat, then the surgeon misses a beat, which is not good for the patient.”
The most rewarding aspect of his job is that he goes home knowing he actually made a difference in patients’ lives.
“They might not know who I am, but they know they feel better and that’s enough for me,” he says. “I always look at it as though that’s my loved one on the table and they deserve the best. When all is said and done and the day is over without a hitch, that makes me feel good.”
The role of the CST will always be vital to the positive outcome of surgeries, Johnny says.
“There will always be a need for grounded, properly trained surgical techs. Hospitals today are cross-training nurses to scrub cases due to a lack of CST programs after COVID, but we are starting to see more programs pop back up,” he says.
Johnny recently experienced a severe medical condition that has put his CST career on hold. He’s been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, “which has knocked me to my knees.” Johnny is currently on disability and awaiting a double lung transplant but plans to get back to work ASAP after he recovers.
“So, it’s ironic that the last position I held at the hospital was tissue implant coordinator,” he says.
Johnny is a huge animal lover, especially dogs and horses.
“I find something so magical standing in a pasture as a herd of horses comes galloping up to me and surrounds me,” he says. “It truly is cathartic.”
He has owned dogs most of his life and currently has two Akitas. In addition to animals, his other great passion is live music.
“When I stand in front of a speaker stack and feel the music move through me, every tension or thought goes away,” he says. “My philosophy in life is, ‘Without music, the soul cannot sing.’”
Johnny’s CST career has never been about money or accolades.
“It’s about helping those who can’t help themselves,” he says. “I wouldn’t change my career for anything.”
Professional Spotlight Nomination
