An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | March 16, 2022

Washington Guard helps out at veterans’ homes, prisons

By Joseph Siemandel, Joint Force Headquarters - Washington National Guard

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – While restrictions begin to ease following the latest surge of the COVID-19 omicron variant, the Washington National Guard continues to support people in need. 

A Washington National Guard team recently spent two weeks helping residents and staff at the Washington Veterans Home in Port Orchard, the Washington Soldiers Home in Orting, and the Spokane Veterans Home.

Washington National Guard members assisted veterans’ home employees by answering resident call lights and non-clinical requests, performing COVID screenings and many other duties.

Capt. Geneva Hoskins-Dorsey, the officer in charge at the Port Orchard facility and a nurse practitioner in the 194th Medical Group, has worked at several nursing homes throughout her medical career, but never at a facility run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“It’s just a different feeling here,” she said. “You can feel the camaraderie among the residents and the staff.”

Airman 1st Class Mckenzie Airhart spent most of his time at the VA home helping the human resources department file patient and employee records.

“Just the presence of the uniform and what that means really psyches up the residents, especially veterans,” Airhart said. “It makes them happy to see other people in uniform.”

Despite the generational gap between Hoskins-Dorsey and her team and the veteran service members who live there, she can’t help but feel a connection with them.

“We have a lot in common. These are vets who have served years and years before us, but we have had similar experiences. We’ve been to the same states, same bases,” she said.

Members of the Guard also support the Department of Corrections with similar tasks at several facilities across the state. The assistance comes after Guard members completed a mission to help eight hospitals with COVID testing, non-clinical support and administrative assistance.

The time spent at the VA home may have been relatively short compared to other recent missions, but this assignment has been meaningful for those who helped fulfill it.

“There’s a lot of commonalities that we can bond over, and I have bonded with a lot of the residents here,” Hoskins-Dorsey said. “It’s been an experience that I’ll never forget.”

 

 

Related Articles
Staff Sgt. Melinda Grounds, a medic with the 141st Medical Group and a registered nurse in Idaho, goes through a questionnaire with a visitor to the mass vaccination site at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield, Wash., Jan. 28, 2021. About 100 Washington National Guard members were activated Jan. 21, 2022, to assist at hospitals across the state..
Washington National Guard members help hospitals
By Joseph Siemandel, | Jan. 24, 2022
CAMP MURRAY, Wash. – About 100 Washington National Guard members were activated Jan. 21 to help alleviate staffing shortages and offer COVID-19 testing at eight hospitals across the state.The rapid spread of the Omicron...

Spc. Hunter Clatterbuck, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 898th Brigade Engineer Battalion, drives the Helping Hands food bank delivery truck Nov. 9, 2021, in Sedro-Woolley, Wash. The food bank hired some Washington National Guard members after their mission there came to an end.
After mission ends, Guardsmen find work at food bank
By Joseph Siemandel, | Nov. 19, 2021
SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. – Members of the Washington National Guard are now permanent employees at a food bank after offering a helping hand during the COVID-19 pandemic."Seeing the fear that some of them didn't know what they...

Staff Sgt. Jose Bulow, a flight medic with Golf Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), is hoisted into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, March 26, 2021, at North Fort Hood, Texas, as part of training before a 9-month mission to the Middle East. Golf Company is attached to Task Force Phoenix, led by the California Army National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Task Force Phoenix trains at North Fort Hood for deployment
By Maj. Jason Sweeney | March 29, 2021
NORTH FORT HOOD, Texas – Flexibility and adaptability have been key for the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade in the lead-up to a 9-month deployment to the Middle East.The brigade is poised to deploy to the region for the third...