Submitted by Mason Health
Michael Ramberg is known for going above and beyond in his work behind the scenes repairing and maintaining medical equipment for Mason Health as a Biomedical Technician in the Facilities Department. Ramberg keeps his eye on more than 1,300 pieces of medical equipment at Mason Clinic and Mason General Hospital, from surgical ophthalmic microscopes at Mason Clinic-Eye Care to birthing beds at Mason General Hospital’s Birth Center. His tenacity and friendly attitude while keeping equipment up and running is a major reason why his peers have selected him as Mason Health’s July 2023 Employee of the Month.
Ramberg joined Mason Health in the spring of 2018. Along with one other employee, Ramberg maintains and repairs medical equipment throughout the Hospital District. He grew up in Montana and after serving in the U.S. Army from 1988 to 2010, working on electronics and fire control for armored vehicles, he decided to use his GI bill to return to school.
“I originally wanted to get into Diagnostic Imaging, but after talking to some people, I realized at the time that it was a saturated field,” Ramberg recalled. “I’ve always been in the repair and maintenance field, and I’ve worked as a mechanic most of my life, in the Army. I decided to enter the biomedical technician field.”
Ramberg attended Spokane Community College and then went to work for Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for two years, commuting throughout that time from Shelton. He had moved to Shelton in 2000 with his significant other, Mary Robillard, who also works at Mason Health in the Environmental Services department. After hearing Robillard describe her positive work experience, Ramberg knew he wanted to transfer jobs, and he even volunteered his time at Mason Health in the biomedical room.
“I like my job because it’s a different day every day when I come to work,” he said. “Mason Health is a good environment and the people are a big reason why I enjoy it here.”
Ramberg enjoys the variety of equipment he gets to work on and seeing the evolution of equipment (“Everything is getting smaller,” he said). Working on hospital beds is similar to working on cars, and part of his job is keeping his knowledge base up and completing a monthly quota of maintenance.
“Mike Ramberg is a life-saver,” said his nominator, Monica Vuong, MD. “He has worked tremendously hard, going above and beyond, repairing our ocular coherence tomographer and surgical ophthalmic microscope. He is able to figure things out in a timely manner. Without these pieces of equipment, surgeries would have to be cancelled, and patients would not be able to get images of their eyes for injections. He is definitely an asset to Mason Health.”
Ramberg enjoys traveling and spending time with his family. He has a competitive license to race automobiles (he races a 2002 BMW) and he volunteers regularly with The Shelton Youth Connection, the board of which Robillard serves.
Mason Health, Public Hospital District No. 1 of Mason County, is celebrating 55 years of serving patients and the community this year. Mason Health is ISO 9001 Quality Management System certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and is a licensed and accredited acute care hospital with a level four emergency trauma designation. Mason General Hospital and Mason Clinic are ENERGY STAR® certified and Mason Health is the recipient of three Practice Greenhealth Partner for Change Awards and a Greening the OR Environmental Excellence Award. There are more than 100 physicians on staff in 19 specialties. For more information or to find a health care provider, visit the Mason Health website. To learn more about DNV, visit the DNV website.
