Double Duty – Hillsboro Medical Center Employees Deploy Overseas

This summer, Hillsboro Medical Center Chaplain Wes Moldogo and Security Officer Tommy Luttrell deployed overseas to serve our country.

Service is a calling for Hillsboro Medical Center employees Wes Moldogo and Tommy Luttrell.

At Hillsboro Medical Center, Wes cares for the spiritual needs of patients as a chaplain, while Tommy protects their physical wellbeing as a security officer.

Even when their shifts at Hillsboro Medical Center end, they both are on call for another important job—serving our country as members of the Oregon Army National Guard.

This summer, Wes and Tommy will deploy overseas.

“It’s an honor to uphold that profession,” explains Hillsboro Medical Center chaplain Wes Moldogo. “You’re there to serve at the end of the day and are there to get the job done.”

Wes has previously been deployed in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, making this his third trip overseas. This will also be Tommy’s third deployment, having served in Qatar in 2019 and elsewhere in the Middle East in 2020.

The two are no strangers to answering the call to serve at a moment’s notice.

In 2017 during the Eagle Creek Fire, Tommy helped with traffic control and dug up burning roots before they could spread. Similarly, Wes assisted with responding to the Camp Fire in Paradise, California in 2018.

Security Officer Tommy Luttrell with his supervisor Eric Cooper.

Chaplain Wes Moldogo alongside his manager at Hillsboro Medical Center, Carol Holm.

Reporting for duty will extend a much longer period this time, as they will be deployed for nine to ten months.

On their endless to-do lists to prepare for deployment, informing their employer was a high priority. Both Wes and Tommy found this to be one of the easiest tasks to take on thanks to Hillsboro Medical Center’s support of active military reserve personnel.

“They’re super understanding,” explains Tommy of Hillsboro Medical Center and particularly his supervisor, Eric Cooper. According to Tommy, Cooper told him, “‘Just provide us with your schedule for the military and we will work right around it.’”

“I can’t speak enough,” notes Wes in reference to his manager Carol Holm’s support, even when being deployed can come up at “inconvenient” times. He adds, “It makes me want to stay at HMC [Hillsboro Medical Center] forever.”

Hillsboro Medical Center is proud of our local heroes, and looks forward to welcoming them home safely.