GE Healthcare has graduated seven U.S. Army reservists from its joint externship program with the U.S. Army Reserve’s 807th Medical Command. The program provides training and fosters career development for biomedical equipment specialists.
GE Healthcare hired three of the seven graduates as full time employees in various locations across the country.
“GE is proud to count among our employees thousands of military veterans whose leadership skills and training supports our culture of dedication and commitment,” said Richard Neff, GE Healthcare vice president and general manager of service for the United States and Canada. “We are pleased with the results of this pilot program and look forward to expanding our efforts to provide career opportunities to our service men and women, addressing needs in the healthcare industry, and helping drive ‘what works’ in the American economy.”
GE Healthcare partnered with the 807th Medical Command of the U.S. Army Reserve to launch the externship program, said Adam Holton, senior human resource manager at GE Healthcare.
The 807th MDSC manages deployment of all Army Reserve field expeditionary medical units from Ohio to California. They help address the critical need for biomedical equipment specialists both within the Command and in the private sector.
“The U.S. Army Reserve has a national foot print and so does GE Healthcare,” Holton said. “The U.S. Army Reserve also has highly trained medical professionals, more specifically biomedical technicians. We have a lot of need for those types of skills in our facilities. It was a win win for both. We need employees who have a good foundation of training on this equipment and the U.S. Army Reserves has a need for soldiers to have good civilian jobs. It is a very good match.”
According to Holton, the U.S. Army Reserve is charged with selecting the program participants and have done so from a pool of about 200 applicants.
Once in the program reservists are placed on active duty orders and brought to Waukesha for technical training, safety courses and field engineer basics. They are then assigned to be a part of local teams based on the communities where they live and do a lot of the same tasks as GE Healthcare employees do, Holton said.
“The Reservists in the program are assigned a mentor with 10 or 15 plus years of experience who works with them during their time on the job site,” Holton said.
The group is brought back to GE Healthcare’s headquarters in Waukesha a few more times to teach them more about the culture of GE, Holton said.
The pilot program graduated seven Army Reservists. A second wave made up of seven externs is midway through the program, and a third wave will commence shortly, Holton said.
The pilot program ran from November through March. Moving forward, GE expects the full externship may be approximately one year in length.
In February GE announced plans to hire 5,000 veterans over the next five years and to partner with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to support its “Hiring our Heroes” initiative through career opportunities and training for veterans in 50 U.S. cities. GE Healthcare has already hired three employees through the program.
“We are pleased to collaborate with GE Healthcare to not only help meet the need for specialized biomedical training in the healthcare industry, but to also provide important opportunities for military veterans to integrate into the civilian workforce,” said Maj. Gen. L.P. Chang, Commander, 807th Medical Command.
