May is full of days to honor our nation’s healthcare professionals. It takes on a special meaning for ERP International as we proudly provide military healthcare, medical staffing, research and readiness services to active-duty personnel, veterans and their families at U.S. military facilities domestically and overseas. To recognize the important work our healthcare professionals do, we sat down with three of them to explore their stories, learn what their service means to them, and understand why they joined ERP.

We introduce you to Sydney Amundson, a Family Practice Registered Nurse (RN) at Hill Air Force Base (AFB), UT; Branden Mayle, a Lead Logistics Analyst based in Morgantown, WV; and Jeff Shaulis, a Registered Radiology Tech and Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in the Orthopedic/Spine Section at Nellis Air Force Base. Each followed a different path to ERP, but they share common bonds with the community they serve.

Sydney Amundson is a Registered Nurse at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. Originally from Minnesota, she obtained her BS in Nursing from Winona State University in 2017 and worked in Minnesota, Texas, and Arizona. Today, she practices in the Family Health section of Hill’s clinic, caring for retired military personnel, military dependents or their children. She joined ERP in 2022 after learning about the job opening from her husband/high school sweetheart, an Air Force pilot stationed at Hill. Occasionally, she sees patients at the Warrior Clinic treating active-duty personnel. She was inspired to pursue a nursing career after observing the care a family member received when being treated for cancer.

Sydney’s prior experience includes working as a float nurse in all units of a hospital – from surgery to outpatient care. Her favorite part of nursing is to see a successful patient outcome because of her intervention. “The thank you cards I receive mean a lot to me,” she says.

Being on the front lines during the height of covid in Texas was extremely trying. “It pulled on my heart while being a strong caregiver for my patients. It was hard to comfort them and their families over the phone or on video chats, but we did what we had to do.”

Hill AFB employs about 22,000 military and civilian personnel, and has about 5,300 patients enrolled from the region. It is the largest single-site employer in Utah. The clinic’s 20 staff members — a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, three nurses, and about 10 technicians — serve these 5,300 people.

She appreciates that ERP has been accommodating and supportive of the military lifestyle that comes with this position and military spouse life. “The customers I serve are fellow military spouses, retirees, and dependents of those that serve our country. I am a military spouse myself and I feel that I have a special understanding as their nurse because of this commonality.”

Sydney and her husband have three little boys. “Somehow I have been able to make time for a few hobbies and volunteer to help organize fun activities such as ice cream socials with fellow nurses. This helps build the positive relationships we all need to survive the day! We are looking forward to an Escape Room activity for our clinic staff at the end of May. Should be lots of fun!”

Thank you, Sydney, for all you do to serve our country as a nurse and military spouse!
 

Branden Mayle is a Lead Logistics Analyst, based in Morgantown, WV, and supports ERP’s medical materiel management group located at Fort Detrick, Md. They coordinate with the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA), ERP’s customer, to ensure readiness and the highest quality of medical care for DOD personnel. He lives in a small West Virginia town about an hour from Morgantown and makes the daily commute because of his strong commitment to the mission.

Branden has worked for ERP for four years on the current contract. He provides senior level technical supervision, guidance, and support for all fielding members in all aspects of the Medical Materiel Fielding process, from start to finish. He holds several associate degrees in mechanical and architectural engineering, and technology from Fairmont State University in West Virginia, completing his studies in 2009.

The fielding process is quite intricate and requires accuracy. This Morgantown team provides logistics support for the validation, inventory, and issuance of medical materiel and equipment to National Guard and active-duty units in all 50 states and numerous locations all over the world. ERP must ensure that all materiel meets the highest requirements and specifications. When requested, they work in hazardous duty areas and provide support for humanitarian responses, as well.

“I have respect for my role at ERP because the material we validate and issue could save American soldiers’ lives on the frontlines. Just recently, we traveled to Germany and processed medical materiel to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland. I am thankful for the opportunity to experience new places and interact with people and cultures that have changed my outlook and life for the better.

“I was never in the military, but this is my way to show respect for the soldiers willing to give their lives for our country and our freedoms.”

Outside of work, Branden loves to spend time with his wife, daughter and son on hikes, road trips and attending their soccer, basketball and baseball games.

Thank you, Branden, for all you do to protect our military, our country and to make the world a better place!

Jeffrey (Jeff) Shaulis is a Registered Radiology Tech and Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in the Orthopedic/Spine Section at Nellis Air Force Base, NV.  He joined ERP in early 2022, with about 35 years’ experience in healthcare. He lived all around the world as the son of a U.S. Navy captain but eventually settled near Pittsburgh. He graduated from Frostburg State College in Maryland with a BS in biology and minor in radiographic sciences.

Jeff’s love of the outdoors while having a degree in health sciences led him to enroll in a clinical  X-ray training program through Somerset Community Hospital to treat skiers from the nearby Seven Springs Ski Resort. He later relocated to the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he worked alongside Dr. Dror Paley on the innovative bone lengthening Ilizroth Process. “Shock Trauma offered me a tremendous opportunity to understand how research can help improve peoples’ lives,” Jeff says.

In addition, Jeff earned his LPN license in Florida, then served as an X-ray tech at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu during the first Gulf War. Years later, he moved to Las Vegas and was hired at Nellis AFB, where the Chief of Spine Surgery, Dr. (Colonel) Anderson, encouraged him to specialize in treating patients experiencing extreme back pain. Jeff learned about ERP through other employees at Nellis.

He enjoys the fast pace supporting the orthopedic surgical team, which treats active-duty personnel and veterans from all branches of the military, and adult family members. Many surgeries relate to post-war injuries from the Middle East in the past five to 10 years; some are from older injuries. Most patients are from ages 18-36, both men and women.

Jeff credits his growing up in a military family for being open to new experiences and for appreciating the military’s expectation of respectability, accountability, and doing a job well. “I have worked with some of the best surgeons in the country. ERP gives me the opportunity to teach and train young men and women in surgical and operating room protocols, which is especially important as Nellis gears up to become a Level III Trauma Center.”

Jeff enjoys the outdoors – from working in his yard to taking his jet boat out onto Lake Mead. With a Hawaii-born wife and large Hawaiian population in Las Vegas, he enjoys many Hawaiian traditions without leaving Nevada.

Thank you, Jeff, for your dedication and commitment to serving our extended military families and patients at Nellis AFB.