New civilian human resources council charts the course for medical civilian personnel transition

DeWitt Army Community Hospital's deputy commander for administration, Col. Daniel Gall, has been named as a member of the Civilian Human Resources Council chartered by the Commander of Joint Task Force CAPMED. The council will oversee the transition of civilians from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda and DeWitt into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the new Community Hospital at Fort Belvoir in 2011.

Prompted by changes mandated by Base Realignment and Closure, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England decided in October that civil service employees of military medical facilities in the National Capital Region will become DoD civilians and will no longer fall under individual service branch personnel systems.

In mid-October, the newly chartered council met for the first time to begin planning for the transition of civilian employees to a new regional healthcare delivery environment.

In addition to Gall, members of the council are Debra Edmond of JTF CAPMED, Col. Dennis Doyle of WRAMC, Capt. Dan Zinder of NNMC Bethesda and Shelia Relerford of Air Force District of Washington/79th Medical Wing.

Supported by a team of senior human resources experts from the Army, Navy and Air Force, the council will develop a transition plan that incorporates, among other things, a Guaranteed Placement Program for personnel assigned to WRAMC, and some medical activities in direct support of the hospital, who are willing to remain through closure. It will also provide regular updates on transition planning through a variety of communication channels across the region.

According to a recent JTF CAPMED release, GPP's goal is to maximize the movement of current civilians to preferred locations and optimize the recruitment of new civilians with designated 2011 duty stations to ensure the new national medical center in Bethesda and the new community hospital on Belvoir have trained and ready staffs when they open.

Additional information about transitional changes to the medical civilian work force in the NCR will be posted on www.JTFCAPMED.mil.