THR
Interns working in the Project SEARCH program at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.
This year, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth joined two other system entities in helping young people with disabilities learn new skills and enter the job market through Project SEARCH.
Eight students, ages 18 and 19, began yearlong internships at the hospital in August, working in Environmental Services; Food and Nutrition Services; Human Resources; Materials Management; the cardiac telemetry and cardiovascular intensive care units; and the orthopedic and trauma unit.
“A couple of the departments have already expressed interest in hiring their interns if a position opens up, but the students have to complete two rotations first,” said Nan Branch, manager, Volunteer and Guest Services. “The managers have been very impressed, especially with a young man working in Materials Management, Martin Vasquez. He’s such a quick learner and a very hard worker.”
The interns are on campus Monday through Friday, along with a teacher, a teacher’s aide and a skills coach from the Fort Worth Independent School District. They spend an hour each day learning how to apply and interview for jobs, working on resumes and discussing any issues the skills coach has noticed.
“Recently, they had to create and deliver a presentation to the Project SEARCH team and their mentors,” Branch said. “They talked about what they’d learned so far and what they hoped to achieve in the future. I was very impressed.”
When Francisca Tamanaha, nurse manager in the ortho/trauma/burn unit at the hospital, heard about the program at a leadership meeting, she knew she wanted to be a part of it.
“I have a family member who really could have benefited from a program like this,” said Tamanaha. “So, when Nan asked if anyone was interested in having an intern in their department, I responded right away.”
Tamanaha said keeping up with supplies is always a challenge in her busy unit, so keeping cabinets stocked was the main task for Madeline Alarcon.
“She learned really quickly and would just come in and immediately check on our supplies and take care of things,” Tamanaha said. “She even started answering call lights, and she really seemed to enjoy that.”
Unit staff often had lunch with Alarcon and learned that her goal was to become a barista at Starbucks. During her last week on the unit, employees held a recognition ceremony to celebrate the end of her first rotation and presented her with a certificate and a Starbucks gift card.
“We wanted to let her know how special she was and how much we appreciated her,” Tamanaha said. “We wanted to make sure she felt the love from our unit.”
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano also participate in Project SEARCH.