WRNMMC, Bethesda, Md.  –   An ICU nurse, Kennedy Gray came to Walter Reed on Aug. 31 during the Rapid Clearing Event hosted by the medical center to streamline the onboarding process for new civilian employees.

Gray was one of 38 potential new hires to attend the event, the first for the medical center which saw nurses as the majority of the medical professionals looking to onboard at the President’s Hospital.

“I think it’s a pretty great opportunity to get the process moving,” said Gray. “My dad was in the military for 35 years and served in Afghanistan. I didn’t get to see him for a while. When he retired, we came back to his original base, Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. I’ve always been on the fence as to whether I wanted to do something military, but my mom is also a critical care nurse and I wanted to follow more of the nursing path and still figure out how to do something to honor my dad.”

Gray said that once she “got her bearings in critical care,” she found Walter Reed and the nursing opportunities available here. “It’s been a blessing and I think working here would be a great way to carry on my dad’s legacy.”

Cameron McGarr, a surgical trauma nurse, was another attendee at the Rapid Clearing Event. “It fits my specialty [to work at Walter Reed],” he said. “Many in my family are in the medical field, and some served in the Army and Navy as well.” The experience of working with people who are in the military, along with “Walter Reed’s prestige,” are factors in his decision to want to work here, McGarr explained.

“We’re so excited to have [our potential new employees] here,” said U.S. Navy Capt. (Dr.) Kelly Elmore, chief of staff at Walter Reed. “[The Rapid Clearing Event] is not the norm, but neither is Walter Reed. We are the flagship of the Military Health System, and excellence is our only option,” she added.

U.S. Navy Capt. (Dr.) Melissa Austin, director of the medical center, agreed, calling the potential new Walter Reed employees “super special.”

“The reason you are super special is because you’re the first group of people to come here as part of our first Rapid Clearing Event,” Austin explained. “Something that could normally take 60 days or longer to do, we’re trying to do in one day and have you onboard in two to four weeks as one of our teammates to take care of America’s warfighters and their families,” said the Walter Reed director.

She added two of her priorities include more beneficiaries and beds at Walter Reed, and this requires more staff. “That’s you. It’s that capacity and capabilities necessary to fulfill our obligation to take care of the people we’re supposed to be taking care of – those who go in harm’s way and their families. We’re going to do it as a team, one bed at a time.”

U.S. Army Col. Wendy Woodall, director for nursing and chief nursing officer at Walter Reed, echoed those sentiments, sharing that those working at Walter Reed get to see the diversity in its staff, not only those wearing military uniforms, but also the civilian staff, whom she called “the backbone” of the team.

“The military remain ready to go downrange at a moment’s notice, and when the ball drops and they have to leave, civilian staff members are here to sustain operations,” Woodall added.