NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina  –   Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune personnel are being honored on a national level once again. United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Amanda J. Randles was recently recognized as Navy Medicine’s Senior Laboratory Officer of the Year for 2021.

The yearly award recognizes compassion, accountability, professionalism, and leadership within the medical fields and subspecialty fields within Navy Medicine.

Lt. Cmdr. Randle’s nomination excerpt highlighted the many roles she commits herself to at NMCCL, demonstrating her flexibility, dedication and commitment to the organization. Randles currently serves in multiple roles: the Interim Deputy Director for Clinical Support Services, the Assistant Department Head for the Laboratory, Command Senior Watch Officer, Co-coordinator for the Patient and Family Partnership Council, and the Command Managed Equal Opportunity Program Manager.

“There are several outstanding officers in my community. I am honored to represent the profession and fully understand that many are deserving of this recognition,” said Randles. “Our profession has been in the spotlight as a result of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which has shed some much needed light on our contributions to the health care delivery team.”

Randles checked into NMCCL amid the pandemic in 2021 and was responsible for implementing testing on the new Hologic Panther Analyzer.

“Her assistance allowed us to flawlessly pivot and utilize this new technology,” said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Reynaldo Gomez, department head for the laboratory, in his nomination letter. “Working with lab leadership, she helped identify direct load technology for the panther analyzer and then validated, and implemented test collection upgrades.”

Randles’ involvement with the upgrades resulted in increased testing capacity and frequency, decreased cost, result time and contamination risk.

“I have been lucky enough to work with and for great leaders who have pushed me to take on challenging tasks,” added Randles. “I have also been exceptionally fortunate to work with amazing technicians, phlebotomists, and professionals that contribute greatly to patient care each day.”