Midland Memorial Hospital (MMH) has teamed up with Midland Independent School District (MISD), PermiaCare, Texas Workforce Solutions and Empowering Hands to launch a Project Search program for the local community, according to a press release.
“MMH wants to assist these interns in finding employment and becoming successful in their future endeavors,” Stephen Bowerman, president and CEO, said. “After completion of the program, we hope they have gained useful knowledge and feel at home so they can join our MMH family as employees.”
Project Search is designed to help students with developmental disabilities between the ages of 18 and 22 garner valuable skills to jumpstart their experience in the workforce. The initiative started Aug. 9 with seven interns.
The interns aim to complete a one-year employment preparation program.
“We believe the health of a community extends far beyond hospital walls. And we are committed to leading our community to be the healthiest in Texas. That's why we've teamed up with area healthcare partners to create Midland Health. Working together, we can make a profound and lasting impact on our community by improving the health of our people,” Bowerman said.
The program comes after the hospital launched other initiatives across the hospital, such as access to educational videos, a CBS7 report states. The hospital’s patients will now have access to more than 1,000 instructional videos to help them better understand their diagnosis.
“One of our main goals of course is to improve health literacy,” Hillary Alaniz, a patient education coordinator, said. “And what that means is just our ability as a patient here to understand what health information is, and how do I apply that information to my life?”
The staff will allocate videos available across all rooms to patients. Upon being discharged, patients will receive a QR code linked to the video.
“Knowledge is power. The more knowledge I have, the more I’m able to control my healthcare outcomes because I know what my part is [and] what is my role as the patient taking care of my health at home,” Alaniz said.