Joel Butler

As Chief External Affairs Officer of University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina, Joel Butler is the hospital’s primary link to the region. This true “people person” fosters on-going dialogue between UHS and community-based educational, civic, and charitable organizations. In Butler’s view, UHS’s responsibility reaches beyond the transactional; rather, the medical center and its myriad healthcare arms are “stewards of place.” As caretakers, Butler and the entire UHS family feel charged with attending to the health concerns of eastern North Carolina. Butler’s own mission is to stay involved. With prevention, wellness, economic development and quality of life as constants on his radar, he’s ever focused on how UHS can provide essential leadership or financial resources to improve the community. Butler, a Kansas native who has lived all over, is the right steward for the right place.

"Greenville has a wealth of resources that you typically find in a city five times its size: a tremendous university and community college, the best medical center in the state, a well-prepared workforce, and some of the best little league teams for children in the world. Living here creates a sense that the future promises to be extraordinary. And no matter where you come from, Greenville makes you feel like you’re finally home."