Holy Name VP Honored for Supporting Military Employees

by Megan Merrigan 

Holy Name Medical Center Vice President Edward “Chuck” Gerity, a New Milford resident, was honored Wednesday for his commitment to supporting hospital employees who serve in the military.

“I would really like to accept this really on behalf of the organization,” Gerity said.  “I am just one of many that are helping everyone here, especially those in the military.”

The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve New Jersey chapter presented Gerity with the Patriot Award. The award is given to a supervisor or manager who demonstrates understanding by providing time-off before and after deployment and lends support to the families of those serving.

But, the most unique aspect of the Patriot Award, according to ESGR’s Employer Outreach Coordinator Leo McGuire, is that it is the only Department of Defense award where service members nominate the recipients.

“We like to ensure that our citizen soldiers that appreciate their supervisors and their employers have a methodology by which those employers that are giving that support can be recognized,” said McGuire, the former Bergen County Sheriff.

Sgt. Juan Rodriguez, who was hired as a Holy Name emergency medical technician a few months before joining the National Guard, nominated Gerity while serving in Afghanistan.

Rodriguez has been through training and three deployments in his five-year tenure at Holy Name, and says he has always been given the support and time that he needs from his employer.

“Throughout my three deployments Chuck helped me,” Rodriguez said.  “Every time I came back I knew my job was safe.  I always spoke to him; he was like a role model to me.”

While the hospital has no specific policies regarding service members and time-off, Community Relations Coordinator Jacqueline Kates said each department works with those serving to provide the support that they need.

In addition to presenting Gerity with a pin and a plaque, Rodriguez gifted an American flag that was flown in Iraq’s Camp Phoenix, where he was stationed, to Holy Name “for being a good employer.”

“If it were not for Holy Name Medical Center and thousands of other supportive employers, (service members) would not be able to protect us,” McGuire said.

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