Employers eager to hire military veterans

Area hospitals have developed recruiting programs aimed at military veterans with health-care experience. Area hospitals have developed recruiting programs aimed at military veterans with health-care experience. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Employers eager to hire military veterans 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Recruiting for candidates in the medical field can be a challenge, so some employers in the Houston area are looking deeper and have found a resource for a few good men and women: military veterans.

"We are currently working with the Texas Medical Center to target veterans who wish to continue their career in the health-care field. We are continuously looking at avenues to reach out to the veteran community," said Jennifer R. Becerra, chief of recruitment and pay at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center.

Military veterans have characteristics and work ethics that fit the medical field.

"Former military personnel share a lot of our values and are passionate, loyal, have integrity and most of all, are service-minded," said Rob Kitto, systems director of talent acquisition for Memorial Hermann and a veteran.

"We serve the Houston community and they understand service above self and what we do every day for our patients."

Becerra likes the background they share with patients at the VA Medical Center. The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center currently has a 28 percent veteran employee population and hopes to raise that percentage in the near future.

"As former members of the armed services, veterans have a deep understanding of what our veteran patients endured while serving in the military," Becerra said.

More Information Learn more Veterans interested in jobs at Memorial Hermann can visit www.memorialhermann.org/careers or jobs.memorialhermann.org. To find more about the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center's openings, browse open positions at www.usajobs.gov.

"There is camaraderie between our veteran staff and veteran patients."

Cook said that most veterans who apply for positions with Memorial Hermann are professionals with medical experience, such as nurses, therapists and technicians. They also see lawyers, security and patient-care specialists.

If applicants lack experience, Memorial Hermann has a training program to teach needed skills.

Both hospitals want to hire the best people for the job but also want to recognize those who have served the country.

"We noted high unemployment rates across the country for our military vets and felt a responsibility to those in our community to do better than that," said Tanya D. Cook, SPHR, system executive, human resources, chief human resources officer, ambulatory services.

She said they also volunteer to speak to transitioning veterans and have two prominent champions for their cause within the hospital: Dr. Red Duke and Dr. John B. Holcomb.

"It's great to have high-level support, especially from our physicians group," said Tanya Cook, assistant executive director, human resources for Memorial Hermann.

Memorial Hermann has a multi-faceted approach to recruiting military veterans. Jobs are posted on military.com and it holds membership in a number of online military groups.