Fiscal year 2018 marked the onset of a phased transition of command over the Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) to the recently established Defense Health Agency. As the MTF environment goes through a landmark transition, the optimal future functions and capabilities of each MTF remain under planning and evaluation. Strategic decision making requires complete information for future operational planning.
Currently, little is known about the baseline demographics, determinants of turnover, attrition rates, and general career life cycle of the civil service healthcare workforce. Using civil service human resource workforce data from the years 2014–2018, this study applies quantitative descriptive and regression analysis methods to achieve an in-depth summary of this workforce’s current condition and career life cycle. The results not only describe the current MTF civilian healthcare labor force but cite workforce planning vulnerabilities.
The findings indicate potential risks for a manpower gap in the future MTF environment. The implications of these findings not only provide a workforce baseline for a measurable evaluation of the effect of future policy and transition outcomes, they support the notion that changes in the recruitment and retention policies for federal labor hiring are required if the current civilian medical workforce is to be maintained or increased.http://archive.org/details/characteristicso1094564881Commander, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited
