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The Advocate

January 2013

Greg Lutz is our new Staff Representative at Kaiser San Diego, joining Sandy Oleson. Greg’s path to UNAC/UHCP was long, winding, and utterly unique. Greg had a fairly idyllic childhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he lived across the street from a ski resort. He filled his time with fishing and skiing. He was also a member of the ski patrol, where he had to help injured skiers safely off the mountain.

Greg studied business in college, and then became a lawyer. He eventually went to work at a law firm, where one day his partner retired from practicing law to attend clown school. That was the final straw for Greg, and he moved on to take a job at an airline. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, September 11th occurred. His lemonade, as he said, was that a fellow union member pointed out to him that he was eligible to be retrained. After some soul searching, he thought about his time on the ski patrol. Nursing called to him, and off to nursing school he went.

When he started at Kaiser San Diego, he quickly was noticed by UNAC/UHCP after reading the contract and complaining to his staff representative about unclear language. Who better to advocate for patients than a former lawyer?