BACH names Cox Civilian Employee of the Year

Photo By Maria Christina Yager | When Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Chief of Civilian HR, Sherry Cox (center) was named the hospital’s Civilian Employee of the Year, she shared the recognition with her team, (from left) Keith Chumley, Tami McChesney, Mark Schluckebier, Atavea Quarles, and Marcy Wilks (not shown Julie Clemmons and Joybelle Cacacho). The team made history transitioning more than 1,300 pay and personnel records of current BACH civilian employees from Department of the Army to Department of Defense as part of the hospital's administrative transfer to the Defense Health Agency. Cox will represent BACH at Fort Campbell Kentucky’s 65th Annual Civilian Employee of the Year Awards Ceremony, 1st Line Supervisor Category, April 27.  

FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

04.06.2023

Story by Maria Christina Yager 

Blanchfield Army Community Hospital

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – A human resource specialist was recently named Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Civilian Employee of the Year, and advances to the installation-level competition for federal employees from Fort Campbell and tenant activities, April 27.

Hospital commander Col. Vincent B. Myers presented BACH’s Chief of Civilian HR, Sherry Cox with a Commander’s Certificate of Achievement for her selection and praised her support to BACH.

“The foundation of our hospital is our people and Sherry Cox is one of many examples of the quality and dedication to the BACH mission. Her leadership and the entire civilian HR team support the hospital which serves nearly 70,000 beneficiaries in our community. Whether the focus is hiring, retention, or critical HR actions, Sherry leads through adversity and ensures BACH recruits the staff necessary to provide high quality care,” said Myers.

Cox is responsible for all HR matters concerning federal civilians, including payroll, leave, awards, staffing and hiring at BACH. With more than 1,400 federal employees, she is responsible for the largest civilian workforce on Fort Campbell.

“I couldn’t do any of this without my team, so this award is really a reflection of us,” said Cox, naming fellow hospital HR staff, Keith Chumley, Julie Clemmons, Tami McChesney, Mark Schluckebier, Joybelle Cacacho, Atavea Quarles and Marcy Wilks, who have supported her through unprecedented challenges like the hospital’s administrative realignment to the Defense Health Agency.

“It was a transfer on paper of about 90 percent of our civilians from the Department of the Army to Department of Defense under the Defense Health Agency. We had to do a lot of administrative tasks making sure we had the right people and positions marked for transfer, make notification to the union, and make sure everybody’s pay, benefits, and personnel records transferred as seamlessly as possible,” explained Cox. “It was history in the making because it was part of the largest transfer function that has ever been done in the federal government.”

All in all, Cox said that they transferred close to 1,300 people at BACH and also gained HR responsibility for civilians from the Fort Campbell Dental Activity, Woodson Health Clinic at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois and are currently adding the civilian employees who support the Soldier Readiness Processing mission at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

With a small contingent of BACH’s civilian staff still employed by the Army, Cox and her team must now be proficient with Army and DoD workforce management systems and policies. While there are some things that overlap, there are also systems unique to each branch.

“We had to learn a lot, but we did it,” said Cox.

In the midst of that, Cox was also working to streamline BACH's civilian hiring process.

“We’re working on speeding up the process and our hiring time has decreased. We’re really working on that,” said Cox, who has had to think outside the box and push for change, including special pay authorizations for certain specialties so BACH can remain competitive with other agencies in the search for qualified healthcare professionals.

“The whole process is lengthy,” she said, acknowledging that the hiring process can take longer at BACH as opposed to civilian hospitals, which don’t have military specific background investigation requirements. But Cox, who has already had some success streamlining the process, continues her effort and insists BACH is the best opportunity in the big picture.

“The one thing most people don’t know is the benefits the federal government offers. We’re one of the few institutions that does a retirement with an annuity. Not a lot of places do that anymore, plus we have the matching Thrift Savings Plan, similar to a 401k, so that is one thing I’m always trying to sell,” she said.

Cox, joined BACH in 2005 after she separated from the Army. Her first job was a temporary position in military HR, which helped establish her federal career. Since then, she has worked her way up the ranks of federal service.

She will represent BACH at Fort Campbell Kentucky’s 65th Annual Civilian Employee of the Year Awards Ceremony, 1st Line Supervisor Category, April 27.

• Date Taken: 04.06.2023
• Date Posted: 04.06.2023 14:22
• Story ID: 442177
• Location: FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, US