NORFOLK — With 563 patient beds, over 700 doctors and 1,250 nurses, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital can be a busy and daunting place — especially if you have a developmental disability.
But eight such young adults have recently navigated the labyrinth of departments, working with hospital staff and helping patients. They are recent graduates of the Project SEARCH Program.
The program started in the 1990s, at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Since that hospital served individuals with developmental disabilities, it decided to hire some people with these disabilities, for some of its high-turnover, entry-level positions.
In Virginia, three Sentara hospitals signed onto the project seven years ago: Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, and Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton.
Eight students graduated from the program in Norfolk two weeks ago. An average class has ten students. Students find out about it at school, through teachers or guidance counselors. Then they apply through their county. The Choice Group, a Richmond-based employment agency that helps people who have encountered difficulties find work in the mainstream workplace, and the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, are also involved in the program.
Personal success stories
“They want two things: they want someone to respect them, and to treat them like adults,” said Don West, the program leader at Sentara Williamsburg. “There are many, many stories of how we brought those people in here and provide a nurturing environment.”
West recalls one young man who was very shy and constantly looked at the floor. “His mother said, ‘He would like to be in this program, but he doesn’t want to get beat up. Was picked on a lot,’” West said.
But all that changed after the young man spent a year buffing floors in the hospital. “He excelled. He got his confidence back,” West said. “I got a card from him now he is working at an outlet mall doing sales. This man who wouldn’t even look me in the eye, is now doing sales.”
Ann Jo Cosgrove, the program’s teacher and coordinator at Sentara Williamsburg, said, “The students that I’ve worked with have grown in maturity and their comfort in working in the real world. Many of them may have not been very successful in high school. When they come here, they just shine.
“They become responsible, professional adults. In turn, they get to network with people in the hospital. It really turns out to be a win-win situation for everybody.”
AJ Cruz, a recent graduate of the Williamsburg program, said his favorite part of it was the contact with both patients and staff.
“The staff treats me like I’m a team member, and I like meeting new patients every day,” Cruz said. “I had this one patient, and we used to talk about baseball every day. That was pretty nice.
“I didn’t know that it could be so much fun to work in a hospital,” Cruz said.
Preparing interns for real world
The interns work in a variety of hospital departments, including food service, patient transport, and in administration.
Rita Dee, the program’s coordinator in Norfolk, said the program helps both the hospital and the students.
“[The students] are building stamina,” she said. “It teaches the staff how to deal with diversity and adversity.”
West said the students are a big hit with hospital staff, and patients and visitors. “They just love them because of their bedside manner. They’re friendly, open and help when they can,” West said, adding, “Everyone that I’ve hired is so appreciative of their jobs. They’re the first ones to get to work and the last ones to leave; and they don’t call in sick.”
West added that students’ specific disabilities tend to melt into the background.
“People will ask me, ‘What is their disability?’ And I say, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Each one of these wonderful students brings their own special skills to the table.”
Placing students in jobs after the internship has been successful. Dee said of the 48 students who have come through the program, they’ve had 100 percent employment after graduation — apart from one year, when it was 85 percent.
A lot of students work at long-term care facilities; others stay on at the hospitals. Others work in stores, like Forever 21 and Barnes & Noble, Cosgrove added.
“The goal of the program is to find them competitive employment,” Cosgrove said. “A lot of their skills will transfer into another type of job in another location.”
