Furloughs sending civilians packing (Military civilian medical workers quitting)

Stars and Stripes ^ | 28 Aug 13 | Gregg Zoroya

[SkyPilot]

Nearly 3,400 military medical workers quit this year in the months when furloughs were threatened or being carried out because of spending cuts known as sequestration. The vast majority of those losses were with Army medical facilities.

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, the Army's surgeon general, says one out of 20 of her civilian medical doctors, nurses and other health workers -- or 2,700 out of 42,000 civilian health employees -- left their jobs for work elsewhere.

She said departing staffers included highly skilled clinicians, scientists, researchers and other health workers. Eighteen percent were doctors and nurses, her staff says. Medical support assistants, dental assistants, medical records technicians and administrative support personnel also quit or retired.

Many of those leaving went to work for the Department of Veterans Affairs which was not included in the budget cuts, Horoho says.

It's not possible to know exactly why people quit, but Horoho says she believes much of the exodus was because of uncertainty over when and for how long the furloughs would occur, and whether they will resume next your, along with concerns about plans to downsize the Army in the near-future.

She said the furloughs "had a very emotional impact. And that's the piece, as the commander of Medcom (Army Medical Command) that if I could have avoided it, I would have. Some of our civilians are feeling very devalued."

The Air Force, which has a smaller medical staff than the Army's, reported a 6% loss during that period, or about 575 employees. The Navy said it lost about 1%, or 120 people.

The job losses occurred from late February or March when furloughs first loomed to when they finally concluded this month.

[Starboard]

I have little hope that Congress and the President will resolve anything.
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I am confident they will make things worse.

[dagogo redux]

I was a Corpsman during Vietnam, and I’m an MD now working in a military town rich in active duty, vets and dependents. My wife’s a nurse. My comments were not off the cuff.

[SkyPilot]

I salute you for your service. And, I can actual pronounce "Corpsman."

Vietnam Corpsman...wow. A few years ago, I read "Citizen Soldiers" by Ambrose. He said that during basic training, the riflemen and artillery men would razz the Army medics. When they were on the troop ships going to England, they would kid them some more.

When they got into combat, and witnessed the bravery of the medics, that joking turned into respect, awe, and a love that sometimes transcends the love of even a family member.