St. Luke’s first of its kind veterans group fosters community, inspiring others to form

As the quest continues to build a strong culture at St. Luke’s, a need emerged for employee resource groups for team members with similar experiences.

Quickly, the perfect group to launch the first ERG came into focus: veterans.

United by a shared bond, veterans are comprised of all genders, races, sexualities and work groups at St. Luke’s. Approximately 600 veterans are employed around the health system.

In October, St. Luke’s launched the Veterans ERG, quickly growing to 160 members within a month.

“It’s really exciting because you have people of all sorts of backgrounds that have this thing in common and it can open up all kinds of opportunities for them,” said Rolando Rodriguez, a senior program manager within St. Luke’s Human Resources department.

“And within that, we can now have a foundation set for ERGs in the future.”

St. Luke’s VERG has three key pillars — recruitment, engagement and service.

It is open to all St. Luke’s employees, be it veterans, their families or supporters. Within its structure, the health system’s geography is split into three areas, in which that VERG chapter plans social events or ways to be involved in the community.

On Nov. 2, VERG members took part in the Idaho Veterans Parade in Boise.

“We’ve been able to put it together in less than a year — I don’t know if it’s stubbornness, but I guess it’s just our nature to get the job done,” said VERG president Austin Overacre, a St. Luke’s project manager. “It’s been a great start.”

Overacre’s work background and his 12 years in the Army — including four deployments — made him a logical choice to take the reins of the VERG once it ramped up.

And he would know as well as anyone the opportunities that exist for veterans after their service.

Through the National Veterans Resource Center, he took a free Project Management Professional certification “bootcamp,” and a month later was hired at St. Luke’s.

“That really helped me get my position here,” Overacre said. “In terms of the VERG, the purpose is to be the place people can feel a sense of connection and support causes they are passionate about. But we also connect them with resources like that — there’s a lot out there available to veterans and their families they don’t realize.”

As the VERG has found its footing, there have been other groups interested in starting ERGs around St. Luke’s, Rodriguez said.

Though he wasn’t certain how it would work, he said the right group was selected to be the first.

“What’s been amazing is seeing the support and the membership climb, seeing how it’s all fallen into place” Rodriguez said. “It was going to take some luck, but we were prepared … any barrier we’ve faced, we were ready.

“Because it’s been successful in Austin’s hands and the leadership around him, it’s really helped me to be able to build the program and a process for others looking to start one.”