We Support Our Veterans and Military Community

Monday, Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, a day to honor our veterans for their service to our country.

The work of our Military Community Employee Resource Group is one way our organization supports our veterans and military community. The ERG's goal is to foster and support a welcoming environment for all past and present military service members, their families and supporters.

How the Military Community ERG Helps

The ERG has put into play some creative ways to support the military community. In observance of Veterans Day and to honor our employees who are veterans, the Military Community ERG is making American flag pins available at each community hospital and CRMH. Veterans who work at these facilities are invited to pick up a pin from Guest Services at their respective hospital. Veterans at CRMH should contact one of the following to get their pin:

• Adam Kozerowitz, alkozerowitz@carilionclinic.org
• Andrew Tressler, ajtressler@carilionclinic.org
• Security, 540-981-7911

If you are a veteran who doesn't work in one of these locations, contact Adam Kozerowitz at alkozerowitz@carilionclinic.org to receive your flag pin. Veterans can pick up pins as long as supplies last. 

Earlier this year, the ERG arranged a bugler to play Taps, the traditional bugle call to honor veterans, in front of CRMH on Memorial Day. This was the second year the ERG coordinated this observance to formally remember those who gave their lives in service for the United States. The event was open to all Carilion employees and the community. 

During Mental Health Month in May, the Military Community ERG worked with Phyllis Whitehead, Ph.D., clinical ethicist and clinical nurse specialist in Palliative Medicine, Deb Ferron, senior Schwartz Rounds facilitator and the Schwartz Rounds planning committee to coordinate the May Schwartz Center Rounds “Service, Sacrifice and Struggle: Navigating One’s Mental Health.” It was the perfect opportunity to bring light to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as it is paramount to the connection with suicide in both healthcare and the military community.  

“We wanted to use the Schwartz Rounds to help reduce the stigma of military service and show what PTSD could mean for those in our community, not just how it’s viewed in movies or news stories,” says Rachel Linkous, a Military Community ERG member.  

The May Schwartz Center Rounds was one of the highest attended Rounds, with more than 339 participants in-person and virtually from across the system.

Other Ways Our Organization Helps

New River Valley, Franklin County and Roanoke Hospices are active partners in We Honor Veterans, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Learn more on Inside Carilion. 

Carilion is one of the charter members of the V3 Program (Virginia Values Veterans) that educates and trains companies on recruiting, hiring, training and retaining veterans. The program offers free training and certification to help employers like us apply nationally recognized best practices in these areas. That helps us be more successful in retaining highly skilled and dependable veterans. We received the V3 Readiness Award for our efforts toward developing a military readiness workplace in 2020.

Jamie Ratliff, Human Resources recruiter, attends monthly meetings with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services for continued outreach of the veteran and military communities, features jobs in the monthly newsletter and partners with them to hire veteran medics and corpsmen for our intermediate care tech positions in conjunction with our Military Medics and Corpsmen (MMAC) program.

“Medics and corpsmen are trained in the military, where they use those medical skills,” says Jamie. “They often don’t have the licensure for civilian jobs when they are discharged. This program helps us bridge the gap.”