The circle of service: How Northwell Health benefits veteran and reservist employees at home and on duty

When a member of our team goes on active duty, they shouldn’t take a pay cut. That’s why Northwell Health offers our military team members pay differential that makes up the difference between their military salary and their Northwell salary. It’s this kind of dedication to the military that has earned us a Military Friendly® Employer designation for the fifth year in a row. We spoke to former U.S. Navy hospital corpsman Davon Gass for an inside peek at what it’s like to be a veteran or reservist working at Northwell Health.

Davon is a Patient Care Activist (PCA) at Lenox Hill Hospital, a position that has the most direct contact with a patient during their stay and assists nurses, monitors vitals, and reinforces safety precautions among other things. It’s a position that Davon describes as “allowing you to practice empathy in a practical setting.” Empathy isn’t just Davon’s job to give to patients, it’s our job to extend empathy to Davon and his family.

In 2017, Davon was on active duty and was deployed. But he didn’t have to worry about losing his job at Northwell Health because of the benefits Northwell offers its eligible active and reservist Military team members. Since 2008, 37 employees have received more than $1.6 million through the health system’s supplemental pay benefit. Davon wants veterans to know that he “never had to worry about coming home jobless, I transitioned back into things and soon it was as if I never left.”

Northwell Health recognizes the sacrifices veterans and their families make and helps returning veterans reintegrate to civilian life. The benefits for veterans at Northwell Health are, in the words of Davon, extensive. “Northwell Health honors our military, and as a reservist they understand we have to leave for two weeks a year and one weekend a month. They are flexible and they work with you. This really helps out a lot, and there are benefits for education. It’s been great here and I have no regrets. You can, overall, expect a lot of support for veterans [at Northwell Health].”

We’re Made for giving our employees a place where we can be Truly Ourselves. We’re thankful for their service, and work hard to support them while they’re in active duty and after. Veterans and reservists: we can do incredible things when we work Truly Together.

Learn more about our programs for veterans and reservists here.