St. Luke’s Lehighton announced the arrival of Ali Linsk Butash, MD, to Carbon County where she will provide general and oncologic (cancer) surgical care at the new St. Luke’s Carbon hospital when it opens later this year.
Dr. Butash will become the first cancer surgeon to be located primarily in Carbon County, treating conditions such as melanoma, breast, thyroid, and gastrointestinal cancers, organization officials stated. She will also build a general surgery practice, managing a wide variety of surgical problems including gallbladder disease, hernias, and diverticulitis.
“A main goal of the new hospital is to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to Carbon County residents in their own community,” Dr. Butash explains.
She says her philosophy of patient care is built on a foundation of open and honest communication that encourages trust and clinical transparency.
A native of Langhorne, Bucks County, Dr. Butash earned her bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University. She completed advanced fellowship training in surgical oncology at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, following a general surgery residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Butash earned her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where she met her husband, Joseph Butash, MD. He is an emergency medicine physician who joined St. Luke’s Easton this month.
Both physicians say they were drawn to the St. Luke’s network for its people, culture, team focus, planned geographically expansive strategy and commitment to providing high-quality care to the community. And it’s near their families, something that’s dear to them as parents of their 18-month-old son, Aaron.
“This network is a great fit for us after spending 10 years training and moving around the Eastern United States before coming back to Pennsylvania, not far from our hometowns,” says Dr. Butash.
She says she was impressed with St. Luke’s, having participated in its externship for pre-med students while she was at Lehigh, an experience that she says helped reinforce her desire to become a doctor.
Joseph Butash, MD, was born in Scranton and had his early exposure to the medical field through his mother, who spent many years as an ER nurse. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Scranton and completed his emergency medicine residency at Drexel College of Medicine, Hahnemann University Hospital.
“Living near family and working for a hospital network that truly cares for its communities and treats its staff and patients like family is an ideal that you don’t find in many organizations,” says Dr. Ali Butash. “We’re fortunate we found it at St. Luke’s!”
