Secret Lives of OhioHealth: Scoring a Fulfilled Life

Rebecca Koons-Petty, a patient accounts coordinator at OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital, watched a flurry of activity – people were screaming, and the noise was deafening. She had never seen anything like this before. It was scary and surreal all at the same time.

Only, she wasn't in an emergency room or even a hospital. She sat in the scoring box at an outdoor motocross track in Nelsonville. Her friend owned a local sports promotion company and needed an extra set of hands at the scoring table.

Koons-Petty had never been a part of anything like this adrenaline-filled, outdoor motorcycle racing event. She was a medical billing coordinator in her mid-20s. But as soon as she sat down in the outdoor arena, noise and energy filled her with excitement. She was immediately hooked.

As time went on, she continued to volunteer at events. Koons-Petty found herself drawn even further into this world, eventually leaving her job to commit herself full-time to Arenacross and motocross.

She quickly earned a reputation as an effective "back-of-house" manager, where she was accountable for gathering intel, managing ticket sales and pit passes, as well as race entries and logistics.

She later moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and covered racing events across the country.

"I am proud to say that I've been to 48 states," said Koons-Petty. Alaska and Hawaii are the last on her bucket list to visit.

She spent the next 15 years in the industry and, eventually, her work led her to attend the 2012 and 2013 X Games. There, she was a part of the "Olympics" of racing events, which included skateboarding, freestyle motocross and BMX.

After meeting her husband, the need to be closer to family called her back to Glouster. She was ready to settle down. She applied for a job at O'Bleness Hospital – an attempt to return to her healthcare roots.

Only, she wasn't ready to give up her connection to the racing world. On the weekends, she once again started volunteering at the scoring table. As it had before, one thing led her to another, and to this day she continues to volunteer at events. She even attends the Supercross race every April in Indianapolis and goes to the Monster Cup supercross race in Las Vegas.

"I've experienced a lifetime of doing what I love to do both in the medical field and the racing industry," she said.

"My friends remind me all the time how unbelievable lucky I am to live the life I do, and I have to say I agree with them."

This story was originally published in an internal OhioHealth associate publication.