Caregiver puts himself in patients’ shoes

Justin Boese is Boone Hospital Center’s Employee of the Month for September 2013. Click here to nominate someone for Employee of the Month.

Serving heart patients is a passion for Boone Hospital’s Justin Boese.

Justin has had two close family members die of heart disease and his brother required heart surgery at a young age. With his experiences, he can understand what patients are going through.

His inspiration comes from “putting yourself in the patients’ shoes, no matter what their situation is,” he said.

As he works as a cardiovascular sonographer in Boone Hospital’s Echo/Vascular Lab, Justin puts his patients at ease by striking up conversations about their lives.

“I love to hear patients’ stories of family, friends and hometowns,” he said. “This also takes patients’ focus off their illness.”

Justin’s hometown is Sioux Falls, SD. He graduated from Southeast Technical Institute in 1998.

When not at Boone Hospital, Justin enjoys doing outdoor activities with his wife, Mary, and sons, Hunter, 6, and Tanner, 2. They love to walk, bike, hike, swim, fish, hunt and barbecue. When they travel, the enjoy touring the western mountainous states of Colorado and Wyoming as well as visiting family in Justin’s home state of South Dakota.

Justin is also a talented photographer. He previously won the top prize in Boone Hospital’s annual photography contest.

While he’s very honored and excited to be named employee of the month, he joked that it sets a high standard for every other aspect of his life.

“It raises the bar for me to be husband and father of the month also!” he said.