When serving your country in the military, sometimes living with loss becomes a part of your day.
Veterans who serve their communities in healthcare live with loss by serving the living.
It’s what they signed up for. Twice.
“Every single day, you are focused on doing your job,” Colleen Sheese, program manager for Epic IT Performance at Carle BroMenn Medical Center, said. Sheese, who served in the Army from 2001-05, is co-lead of the Carle Health MVP (Military and Veteran Professionals), a Carle Inclusion Connection Group that serves team members who are active duty service members, veterans, their families and supporters. Her co-lead is Eric Swenson, strategic planning coordinator II for Carle Health Strategy and Development, who served in the Army from 2005-09.
“When you’re in the military, you’re serving everyone in the United States,” Swenson said. “Working in healthcare, we make the same pledge, serving our patients and communities. As a civilian, I want to continue serving others.”
Carle Health Veterans Day ceremonies
Nov. 11 is Veterans Day. Several Carle Health hospitals will have flag-raisings, which are open to team members and the public, at the following times and locations:
Carle Health values team member-veterans
“At Carle Health, we value the varied experiences of all our team members,” James Leonard, MD, Carle Health CEO and president, said. “In particular, our team members who are veterans bring their unique perspectives and experiences with them to work each day. These experiences help build team members who are hard-working, dedicated and focused on the mission at hand.
“We support our team member-veterans through Carle Health MVP. We also honor them through Veterans Day flag-raising ceremonies at several locations throughout the organization. It’s one way that we say ‘thank you’ to our veterans for their service to our country as well as their ongoing commitment to their communities through their work at Carle Health.”
About 500 Carle Health team members have identified as veterans. Because disclosing this information is voluntary and some team members are active service members, the number of team members who are veterans and on active duty is believed to be significantly higher.
“Carle is the most veteran-friendly organization I’ve worked for,” Swenson said. “It starts with the leadership, which sets the tone for the whole organization. We feel valued and respected.”
MVP co-leads share experiences
Sheese served in Iraq from 2003-2004 in the 234th signal battalion, running communications systems during the war against Al-Qaeda. She and her unit provided communications to troops in the air and on the ground.
“We lost a lot of people,” she said. “It becomes a part of your day to day. You’d go to bed listening to artillery and wake up listening to artillery. You’re trying to keep everything working and trying to stay alive.
“I came home (from the Army), wanted to live my life and went to nursing school. I want to be the best mom, wife, nurse and faith community member I can be.” She honors those who didn’t make it home by living a full life.
“My experience in the military is that you never know what to expect,” Sheese said. “You need to have Plan B, C, D, E, F and G because Plan A never happens. You have to pivot at a moment’s notice. You need to take everything in stride. All those things benefit me in healthcare.
“My military service also helped me to lead from the front and the back. It taught me to support my brothers and sisters. That benefits me in healthcare because in trauma, you need to trust the person beside you. I learned to relate to a variety of people. It gave me a love of people who aren’t like me.”
Swenson served in Iraq from 2006-07 in the 2nd Infantry Division, as an intelligence analyst during the war against Al-Qaeda. He and his team supported missions with planning, briefings, surveillance and coordinated strikes. “That was during the 2006-07 surge,” he said. “It was non-stop combat. We had a lot of casualties.”
Swenson uses strategic planning skills he learned in the military every day in his Carle Health role.
“Serving others, serving our community. That’s the mission,” Swenson said.
What Veterans Day means
Each year, Dr. Leonard sends letters to team members who have identified as veterans, thanking them for their service.
Swenson said, “We often lose track of how special this country is and how similar we all are. This is a day to remember those things because Veterans Day is bigger than any one person. We live in a special place in the world, and we have freedoms and safety that other people don’t have. Our country needs to remember what we are and who we are.”
For more information
For more information about Carle Inclusion Connection (CIC) Groups, including MVP (Military and Veteran Professionals), click here.
Interested in a career with an organization that values you and your experience? Click here if you are a veteran. Click here for general information about careers with Carle Health.
Veterans who serve their communities in healthcare live with loss by serving the living.
It’s what they signed up for. Twice.
“Every single day, you are focused on doing your job,” Colleen Sheese, program manager for Epic IT Performance at Carle BroMenn Medical Center, said. Sheese, who served in the Army from 2001-05, is co-lead of the Carle Health MVP (Military and Veteran Professionals), a Carle Inclusion Connection Group that serves team members who are active duty service members, veterans, their families and supporters. Her co-lead is Eric Swenson, strategic planning coordinator II for Carle Health Strategy and Development, who served in the Army from 2005-09.
“When you’re in the military, you’re serving everyone in the United States,” Swenson said. “Working in healthcare, we make the same pledge, serving our patients and communities. As a civilian, I want to continue serving others.”
Carle Health Veterans Day ceremonies
Nov. 11 is Veterans Day. Several Carle Health hospitals will have flag-raisings, which are open to team members and the public, at the following times and locations:
- 11 a.m. outside the front entrance to Carle BroMenn Medical Center, Normal.
- 8 a.m. outside the front entrance to Carle Eureka Hospital, Eureka.
- 1 p.m. outside the Carle Foundation Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute entrance, Urbana.
- Noon outside the front entrance to Carle Health Methodist Hospital, Peoria.
- 11 a.m. outside the front entrance to Carle Hoopeston Regional Health Center, Hoopeston.
- 11 a.m. outside the front entrance to Carle Richland Memorial Hospital, Olney.
Carle Health values team member-veterans
“At Carle Health, we value the varied experiences of all our team members,” James Leonard, MD, Carle Health CEO and president, said. “In particular, our team members who are veterans bring their unique perspectives and experiences with them to work each day. These experiences help build team members who are hard-working, dedicated and focused on the mission at hand.
“We support our team member-veterans through Carle Health MVP. We also honor them through Veterans Day flag-raising ceremonies at several locations throughout the organization. It’s one way that we say ‘thank you’ to our veterans for their service to our country as well as their ongoing commitment to their communities through their work at Carle Health.”
About 500 Carle Health team members have identified as veterans. Because disclosing this information is voluntary and some team members are active service members, the number of team members who are veterans and on active duty is believed to be significantly higher.
“Carle is the most veteran-friendly organization I’ve worked for,” Swenson said. “It starts with the leadership, which sets the tone for the whole organization. We feel valued and respected.”
MVP co-leads share experiences
Sheese served in Iraq from 2003-2004 in the 234th signal battalion, running communications systems during the war against Al-Qaeda. She and her unit provided communications to troops in the air and on the ground.
“We lost a lot of people,” she said. “It becomes a part of your day to day. You’d go to bed listening to artillery and wake up listening to artillery. You’re trying to keep everything working and trying to stay alive.
“I came home (from the Army), wanted to live my life and went to nursing school. I want to be the best mom, wife, nurse and faith community member I can be.” She honors those who didn’t make it home by living a full life.
“My experience in the military is that you never know what to expect,” Sheese said. “You need to have Plan B, C, D, E, F and G because Plan A never happens. You have to pivot at a moment’s notice. You need to take everything in stride. All those things benefit me in healthcare.
“My military service also helped me to lead from the front and the back. It taught me to support my brothers and sisters. That benefits me in healthcare because in trauma, you need to trust the person beside you. I learned to relate to a variety of people. It gave me a love of people who aren’t like me.”
Swenson served in Iraq from 2006-07 in the 2nd Infantry Division, as an intelligence analyst during the war against Al-Qaeda. He and his team supported missions with planning, briefings, surveillance and coordinated strikes. “That was during the 2006-07 surge,” he said. “It was non-stop combat. We had a lot of casualties.”
Swenson uses strategic planning skills he learned in the military every day in his Carle Health role.
“Serving others, serving our community. That’s the mission,” Swenson said.
What Veterans Day means
Each year, Dr. Leonard sends letters to team members who have identified as veterans, thanking them for their service.
Swenson said, “We often lose track of how special this country is and how similar we all are. This is a day to remember those things because Veterans Day is bigger than any one person. We live in a special place in the world, and we have freedoms and safety that other people don’t have. Our country needs to remember what we are and who we are.”
For more information
For more information about Carle Inclusion Connection (CIC) Groups, including MVP (Military and Veteran Professionals), click here.
Interested in a career with an organization that values you and your experience? Click here if you are a veteran. Click here for general information about careers with Carle Health.
Categories: Culture of Quality
Tags: ceremonies, CIC, military, mission, MVP, team, veterans