Continuing to serve

We obviously have many reasons to feel gratitude to those who have served in the U.S. military, but one we may have overlooked is the role military service has played in preparing our healthcare workers to help keep our community healthy and secure.

Take, for example, Saratoga Care Center Director of Nursing Stephany Ponish, BSN, RN. Ponish served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy from 1992-1999 and says her experience has enabled her to continue to apply the core values of the U.S. Navy: honor, courage, and commitment.

“The courage I gained through the military has allowed me to overcome day-to-day challenges in the healthcare arena and to maintain a positive attitude while coping with the challenges.”

If having courage and overcoming challenges gives you a leg up in the practice of medicine, Dr. Adrian Durham is way ahead of most of his peers. As director of medicine at the Platte Valley Clinic until the hospital is completed, Durham may encounter some disturbing medical situations, but nothing like those he encountered as one of the Air Force’s Pararescuemen.

In this special services role, he received extensive training as a paramedic, including field surgery skills, and learned everything he needed to perform extreme environment rescue and recovery, such as how to jump from a helicopter into the ocean and rappel down a mountain.

Of his new job in Saratoga, Durham said, “This is an opportunity to put what I’ve learned in the military, the emergency room and in family medicine to use to help a community. I love people and I’m looking forward to it.”

Military training is at the core of some veterans’ careers in healthcare. A nurse at the Saratoga Care Center, Robert Curtis spent 28 years in the military and became a nurse through the Army’s nursing program prior to retiring.

“My military experience has helped my career as a nurse, taught me the value of being on time, of following through with tasks, and of doing the right thing even if no one else is around,” Curtis said. “My time overseas prepared me to deal with stressful situations in a calm manner and has helped me to be able to lead others when needed.”

Leadership skills are vital to a well-run healthcare system, and HMS Administrator Mark Pesognelli who manages both the clinic and the care center learned many of his during 21 years of service with the Marines, including ten years as a intelligence officer. Pesognelli worked for the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Reconnaissance Office, along with coordinating with special forces from all branches of the military and allied nations.

“The leadership taught in the Marine Corps has benefited me in all of my civilian pursuits,” Pesognelli said. “The three Marine directives that I continue to follow are take care of the welfare of the troops, accomplish the mission and lead from the front.”   

Karl Rude, president of HMS which oversees management of both the clinic and the care center, sums it up, saying, “We are proud to work side-by-side with our veterans and appreciate their hard work and dedication to excellence in their jobs every day. It is an honor to have them.”