Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point (NHCCP) has named Laurie Varner as the NHCCP Senior Civilian of the Year, and Maria Augusto as the NHCCP Junior Civilian of the Year for 2019.

Varner, the assistant department head for Materiel Management has been with NHCCP for 10 years.  Augusto is a pharmacy assistant and has worked at NHCCP for 18 years.

NHCCP Commanding Officer Capt. Doug Stephens congratulated both civilians saying, “These two individuals are being recognized for their outstanding contributions to NHCCP and have been selected from their peer groups. As always, the selection process was extremely difficult and all our staff are worthy of this recognition. But Laurie and Maria were definitely the cream of the crop this year.”

Under Varner’s leadership, NHCCP Materiel Management Department was singled out and recognized by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery as Navy Medicine East’s Fiscal Year 2018 and 2019 Top Performer in Logistics Metrics. The Materiel Management acquisition team continued to perform at the highest level and through her leadership, procured $12.4 million in supplies, equipment, and contract obligations for all 26 command departments and supported Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point entities, leading to a successful close-out of fiscal year 2019.

Varner also presided over the 100 percent completion of preventative maintenance requirements for 1,181 pieces of medical equipment valued at more than $9.1 million for 26 departments within the command and surrounding organizations.

“It was a surprise and truly an honor to be selected among such an amazing group of civil service staff members,” Varner said.  “Materiel Management provides material support for NHCCP, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing medical, Federal Fire, and the U.S. Army Veterinary clinic, purchasing everything from basic administrative supplies, consumable medical supplies and medical equipment, to contracting vehicles, medical gases, biomedical equipment repair, and disposal of regulated medical and hazardous waste.”

Varner was also responsible for managing the command’s 129 personal and non-personal contract service staff, a program valued at $11 million. Her leadership actions were key to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition in the personal service contract transition from Navy Multi-Award Task Order to Defense Health Agency contracting.

“This award would not have been possible without the hard work, attention to detail, and dedication to the mission by a dynamic group of Sailors, civil service, and contractors who are committed to ensuring the command has the necessary personnel, supplies and equipment to take care of our beneficiaries every day,” Varner said.

As the Junior Civilian of the Year, Augusto personally assisted 11,216 patients, entered 46,000 prescriptions and filled 5,821 new and refilled prescriptions. She has received more than 50 positive ICE comments for her exceptional customer service and has trained four general duty corpsman and one contractor technician in all aspects of the pharmacy to include pharmaceutical compounding, CHCS, and automated dispensing systems. Additionally, she is one of four technicians qualified in sterile compounding.

Augusto trained 16 staff members on proper pharmacy protocols regarding shelf inspections and ensured they were completed on a monthly basis resulting in zero safety events caused by out of date medications. She served as coordinator for all clinic and Pyxis medication inspections and insured all medications taken out of the department were within proper shelf life expectancy resulting in increased patient safety. She restocked and distributed 13 anaphylactic kits and two Crash Carts Trays.

Augusto was also one of two pharmacy technicians involved in the planning, training, and execution of the upgrade to Pyxis ES (automated medication storage and dispensing) machines, which included the installation of four new machines in the operating rooms for anesthesia use, the upgrade of four medication stations throughout the clinic, and the upgrade of the pharmacy's automated medication safe/vault. Additionally, she trained all anesthesia staff, nurses and pharmacy staff in the proper use and troubleshooting of the new systems. She personally inventoried and refilled anesthesia Pyxis carts daily in support of a 20 surgical cases a week.

“I’ve been at Cherry Point for a long time,” Augusto said. “I love the fact that I have developed relationships with my patients. I enjoy working and serving them. I also want to thank all my coworkers in the pharmacy. We grow and learn from each other every day.”

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Named after Medal of Honor recipient, Pharmacist Mate Second Class William D. Halyburton, the Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point provides high-quality patient care to more than 18,000 active-duty members and DOD beneficiaries. In addition to out-patient surgical services, NHCCP offers Medical Home Port (including family care and pediatrics), Orthopedics, Physical Therapy, Behavioral Health, Pharmacy services, Preventive Medicine, Aviation Medicine and Radiology to include MRIs.