Bon Secours celebrates 2024 Project SEARCH graduates

Program Helps Students with Disabilities Prepare for Employment After School

Bon Secours St. Francis Health System will celebrate the Class of 2024 during a special ceremony at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena tonight. Its 11 Project SEARCH interns will mark their successful completion of the program during a graduation event that will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Each year, the hospital hosts a group of students with disabilities from Greenville County high schools to provide them the opportunity for real life work experience through internship rotations in the hospital environment. The goal is to help them prepare for and find fulfilling and productive jobs after high school.

Together with the Greenville County School District and South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation, the Project SEARCH program at Bon Secours St. Francis provides hands-on training and school-required academics. This is done both virtually and in real-time, providing the best educational opportunities for interns.

“Hospital internships challenge interns to develop transferable skills that improve self-confidence, instill a sense of pride, and lead to independence,” said Allison Fleahman, Bon Secours St. Francis Workforce Coordinator.

Interns even have a state-of-the-art learning facility in the Joseph J. Pazdan Project SEARCH Center – a world-class, interactive classroom learning environment. It includes space for classroom instruction as well as training rooms, designed to reflect patient care areas, where interns can practice their skillsets.

Since its debut in 2017, 86% of Greenville’s Project SEARCH interns found employment upon graduation. That includes 19 interns who were hired on by the health system, a move leaders hope will set an example for other Upstate businesses.

For more information about the Project SEARCH program, visit bonsecours.com or keep up with the latest happenings by following the group’s Facebook page.

About Bon Secours

Bon Secours St. Francis is part of Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH), one of the 20 largest health systems in the United States and the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country. The ministry’s quality, compassionate care is provided by more than 60,000 associates serving communities in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia, as well as throughout Ireland. Bon Secours Mercy Health provides care for patients more than 11 million times annually through its network of more than 1,200 care sites, which includes 49 hospitals. In 2023, BSMH provided more than $600 million dollars in community investments across five states, ensuring that cost is not a barrier to health care for our patients in need. Locally, Bon Secours St. Francis provides compassionate medical care to thousands of area residents through Bon Secours St. Francis Downtown and Bon Secours St. Francis Eastside, as well as a network of primary and specialty care practices, and ambulatory care sites across the Greenville region. The mission of Bon Secours St. Francis is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of our communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved. For more information, visit BonSecours.com.