Two Naval Hospital Jacksonville sailors have been selected by Navy Medicine East (NME) as Regional Sailors of the Year.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Alexanderia Artis (Senior Sailor) and Hospitalman Karina GarciaAlanis (Blue Jacket Sailor) were selected as NME's 2017 Regional Sailors of the Year by a panel of senior enlisted leaders chaired by NME Command Master Chief Michael Hinkle.

"Our Navy Medicine East Regional Sailors of the Year and all our candidates who competed this year from across the eastern hemisphere epitomize the Navy's core values of honor, courage and commitment," said Hinkle. "These Sailors are all on a path to senior leadership in Navy Medicine, and represent the best of the United States Navy."

Sailors from across NME's 21 commands across the eastern hemisphere competed. The selections were based on a thorough review of each Sailor's performance, professional achievements, community involvement, and educational accomplishments.

During their visit to Portsmouth, Virginia, the senior candidates attended history and heritage events within the area, enhancing their cultural understanding of the Navy and Navy Medicine.

Artis will continue to the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery's Sailor of the Year competition in January.

"This is an extremely humbling experience," said Artis, who's the leading petty officer of NHJ's Laboratory Department. "I represented our entire command and all of our junior Sailors who've gotten me here."

NH Jacksonville's priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation's heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy's third largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population (163,000 active and retired sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardsmen, and their families), about 85,000 are enrolled with a primary care manager and Medical Home Port team at one of its facilities. To find out more or download the command's mobile app, visit www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil,
www.facebook.com/usnavy, or href='http://www.twitter.com/usnavy'>www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Hospital Jacksonville, visit www.navy.mil/.