Sengpheth Phengvath always knew she wanted to serve in the military. Her family fled Laos during the Vietnam war and settled in the United States as refugees. Her desire to care for the wounded and give back to the country that took her in is what prompted her to go into nursing and join the Navy Nurse Corps. When she received her deployment orders in 2016, her colleagues in the main operating room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania threw her a going away party and, during her nine-month deployment in the Navy Nurse Corps in Djibouti, they held fundraisers to send her care packages.
“Penn Medicine is committed to serving the needs of those service members who continue to serve while employed here,” said Paula Crawford-Gamble, MSN, CRNP, Penn Medicine Veterans Care Concierge liaison. This includes following the recommendations of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Defense Department program that promotes cooperation between civilian employers and their National Guard or Reserve employees. Under those guidelines, Penn Medicine allots up to two weeks each year for employees to attend annual military training and will pay the difference between the military base rate of pay and their usual rate of pay.
As Crawford-Gamble explained, the Combat to Care program also offers services to assist the veteran with integrating both the tuition benefits the veteran receives from the GI Bill and Penn Medicine so they can take advantage of the many educational opportunities to promote professional growth. Combat to Care is managed through Human Resources and the Veterans Care Excellence Program (VCEP). In addition, the VCEP program helps to streamline the process of navigating healthcare benefits with those from Veteran Affairs.
“Over time, as Penn Medicine has experienced more and more members being mobilized, the organization has updated policies and procedures to support military members in order to fulfill the requirements of the DOD but also to meet the needs of our employees that serve our country,” she said. “We’re always asking what else can we do, what more can we do.”
Dustin Lahiff, a project manager with Real Estate and Architecture in Corporate Services, is also an operations officer in the Army Reserve and has to take leave several weeks a year for military training.
“I can tell you right now Penn has probably been the best place I’ve worked when it comes to military leave,” he said. “And it’s not just because I’m working here.”
Lahiff said that while previous employers have had trouble understanding why he has to take time off and didn’t reimburse him for lost wages, Penn makes the process easy and always accommodates him if he needs to take more than the allotted two weeks off per year.
When Phengvath returned from Djibouti, she said the 90-day transition period that Penn allots before returning to work under ESGR guidelines was necessary. Her unit, in addition to throwing her a welcome back celebration, also gave her a week to adjust to working in the operating room again and adapt to any changes from her year away. Manager George Bordi considers having a current military member as a positive addition to the staff and thinks employees can learn from her unique experiences.
“We have to provide a global umbrella of support to really assure that our veterans have what they need for every aspect from civilian life to mobiliation,” Crawford-Gamble said. “We try in every way possible to make them feel welcome.”
To inquire about military leave benefits specific to each entity, staff should contact their manager or HR generalist.
For more information about the Veterans Care Excellence Program, email Paula.Crawford-Gamble@pennmedicine.upenn.edu or call 215-220-9566.