Working in healthcare was never on my radar,” says Luke Manuel, Security Director for Rockcastle Regional Hospital and Respiratory Care Center in Mount Vernon, Ky. He spent 8 ½ years in the U.S. Marine Corps, before earning his bachelor’s degree in Assets Protection and Security with a focus on critical infrastructure. “I had initially planned to work in the Washington, D.C. area,” he says.
Instead, Manuel learned of a security position at Rockcastle Regional, an acute and long-term care hospital that serves the communities of Rockcastle County, Ky., as well as surrounding counties. The organization is a 26-bed acute care hospital and a 143-bed long-term care ventilator program — the largest of its kind in the nation. The organization also includes a quick care clinic, three rural health clinics, and a medical arts facility with 36 specialty clinics. Manuel and his team of 11 other security officers are responsible for maintaining the security of all the facility.