Saturday, January 5, 2012
Guests:
Kevin Healy,
Vice President of Human Resources
St. Mary’s Healthcare System
Healthcare Challenges –
Vice President, Human Resources for St. Mary’s Health System in Lewiston, Maine. The organization has 2000 employees and is a full service healthcare provider.
The system includes St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, St. Mary’s D’Youville Pavillion Nursing facility, a large Physician Practice Network and assisted living facilities for the elderly. Healey recently assumed responsibilities for the Human Resources department at St. Joseph’s hospital in Bangor as part of an effort to share resources between Covenant Health System facilities.
Healey is responsible for all aspects of Human Resources management for both St. Mary’s Health system and St. Joseph’s hospital. His areas of responsibility also include Employee Safety, Workers Compensation, Interpreter Services, Employee Education/Training and Volunteer Services. Immediately prior to his service at St. Mary’s, Healey worked for 15 years at UNUM Corporation in Portland, Maine, serving as a Human Resources Division Director and as the Executive Director of the UNUM Foundation.
Prior to UNUM he was employed as a Human Resources professional in the dairy and food-manufacturing sector. Healey is a current and past member of numerous Maine non-profit boards. He is a 1975 graduate of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois with a BA in Business Administration and holds Certifications as a Senior Professional in Human Resources, (SPHR), and as a Certified Compensation Professional, (CCP).
He lives in Greene, Maine with Robin, his wife of 37years, and has two adult children, one in Texas and one in Windham, Maine.
X
Rich Brewer,
Founder
One Warrior Won
Hiring Vets –
OneWarriorWon is a 501(c)3 (pending) organization dedicated to helping veterans stay alive, avoid suicide, prevent homelessness, and decrease poverty rates, by reintegrating them into civilian life without losing the the pride of being a veteran. Through education and peer counseling, OneWarriorWon will help veterans adjust to civilian society and will provide them with the necessary tools to live full and satisfying lives, regardless of the life long physical and psychological wounds of war they bear. By using a novel PTSD paradigm that has been field tested and veteran-approved, OneWarriorWon will help veterans combat the the “war within”, easing their mental anguish and proving to them that they are not mentally ill. Through motivational and educational training I desire to bridge the abyss between military members, mental health/general healthcare providers, alternative healers, corporate America, civic groups, and the public at large, creating a more informed and caring community for combat veterans to come home to.
Growing up in a military and police family, Rich Brewer was instilled with a belief in service and devotion to country and community. Graduating six months early from high school he enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17. Rich was meritoriously promoted to every rank he received and became a Sergeant in just 19 months. Early in his career, Rich was selected for the prestigious Marine Security Guard School, which trains Marines to guard US Embassies around the World. After receiving a Top Secret Security Clearance from the US State Department, Rich was assigned to the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983-84, during some of the heaviest fighting of the civil war there. Rich took part in one of the largest evacuations of western personnel from a hostile country, evacuating over 3,000 westerners from Beirut as the city fell to militia groups.
On September 20th, 1984 , Rich was severely wounded by a suicide truck bomb that destroyed the American Embassy of Beirut. Despite multiple lacerations, burns, shrapnel wounds and a broken arm, Rich continued aiding those wounded, until he lost consciousness and was taken to a local hospital where he received minimum care and refused further treatment so he could return to stand duty with his fellow Marines. In honor of his bravery and fortitude, Rich is the recipient of the Purple Heart, Navy Commendation, Navy Achievement, Combat Action, National Defense, Joint Service, Presidential Unit Citation, and numerous other personal and unit awards.
After leaving the Marine Corps in 1987, Rich joined the Massachusetts State Police, graduated first in his class and was honored with the top physical fitness award. He was promoted to the rank of Detective Trooper, and became a FBI certified Hostage Negotiator. After 4 years with the State Police, Rich moved to Washington, DC to rejoin several former Marine team members in the private security industry, ultimately becoming the lead bodyguard for a member of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.
Armed with his professional accomplishments, Rich turned his attention to his personal development, earning a BS in Special Education and BA in History in 1997, and launching a career in education that would take him back to Beirut, Lebanon to teach for two years at the American Community School of Beirut, followed by a decade of teaching at the Jesuit College Preparatory School Cheverus in Portland, Maine. While at Cheverus, Rich was honored with the “A+ Teacher Award” in 2002, and a yearbook dedication in 2004.
Rich met his wife Pam in 2000 and began to realize his long-cherished dreams of becoming a husband and father. Despite his professional and personal achievements and by all accounts living the “American Dream”, Rich struggled for more than two decades with PTSD/TBI and the psychological trauma of his combat experience, often describing it as the “war within”.
Feeling worthless no matter how good it appeared he was doing, Rich reached a point where death looked better than life. Ever so close to choosing death, Rich decided to live to benefit his family and himself. From that fateful moment Rich began dedicating himself to helping those struggling with PTSD and educating the wider society about combat veterans who are returning home. Through his organization OneWarriorWon, Rich is leading the movement to inform and educate the American people about the true multiple, complex issues facing returning combat veterans to their communities and assisting them in integrating into a more caring community and country.
