Seton Expands Project SEARCH for Hays County and others

 

AUSTIN, Texas – (Sept. 30, 2014) – Project SEARCH, an innovative, business-led approach to competitive employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will expand to its fourth Seton location – University Medical Center Brackenridge – and now provide internships for approximately 40 local high school students in Hays, Travis and Williamson counties.

“We’re thrilled to bring Project SEARCH, an initiative that emphasizes the strengths and skills of young adults with intellectual developmental disabilities, to another Seton flagship facility,” Jesús Garza, Seton Healthcare Family president and chief executive officer, said.

Started in 2007, Project SEARCH at Seton Healthcare Family is a year-long, innovative internship program that takes place entirely within hospital settings. Interns gain essential work skills and professional experience through hands-on training in complex, systematic tasks, with the ultimate goal of securing employment at Seton or with another Austin-area employer.

Project SEARCH has experienced exponential success and growth. In its first six years, the program grew from five interns at a single Seton location to 30 interns across three Seton locations – Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin, Seton Medical Center Williamson in Round Rock and Seton Medical Center Hays in Kyle. Students in the program come from the Austin, Hays Consolidated and Round Rock independent school districts.

 

“The impact these interns have on the staff, patients and families, not to mention on our operations, is significant. Many associates have proactively found ways to retain interns in permanent roles,” Garza said. “Interns gain confidence and their families take great joy in their accomplishments.”

Through this program, approximately 80 percent of Project SEARCH graduates to date – a total of 65 young adults – have found employment at a Seton facility or elsewhere in Central Texas. Many now live independently and are active members of the community.

The Seton Healthcare Family, a faith-based non-profit organization founded in 1902 by the Daughters of Charity, is the leading provider of comprehensive, advanced health care and services in Central Texas.

Seton operates more than 100 clinical locations including four medical centers, a world class pediatric medical center, two community hospitals, three rural hospitals, an inpatient mental health hospital, three primary care clinics for the uninsured and several strategically located health facilities. The system offers the region’s only Level I Trauma Centers for adult and pediatric patients, and first heart transplant program. Seton’s insurance division works with commercial insurance companies, community physicians and Medicaid and Medical Access programs for low-income persons, to assist in the management of the region’s overall health.

Seton is home to The University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center’s Austin medical residency programs, as well as the Seton/UTSW Clinical Research Institute.

The organization’s role in education, research and spiritual programming furthers Seton’s mission to improve the health of the communities it serves, with special concern for the poor and vulnerable, as it prepares the region’s next generation of clinicians. In Fiscal Year 2013, Seton provided $340 million in charity care.

Generous donors and a culture of giving nurtured by trustees, volunteers and staff help Seton further the Daughters of Charity health care ministry.

Seton is a member of Ascension Health, the healthcare delivery subsidiary of Ascension.                                                                                                  For more information, please visit www.seton.net.

Ascension (www.ascension.org) is a Catholic healthcare organization dedicated to the transformation of healthcare through excellent clinical care throughout the continuum of care and through innovation. Ascension is the nation’s largest Catholic and non-profit health system, providing the highest quality care to all with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Last year, Ascension provided $1.5 billion in care of persons living in poverty and community benefit programs. Its Mission-focused Health Ministries employ more than 150,000 associates serving in more than 1,900 sites of care in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Ascension’s direct subsidiaries provide services that include healthcare delivery, medical equipment management, treasury management, resource and supply management, venture capital investing, physician practice management, and risk management.

 

Press release provided by Seton

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