Bon Secours celebrates 2025 Project SEARCH graduates 

Program Helps Students with Disabilities Prepare for Employment After School

Bon Secours St. Francis Health System honored the Class of 2025 with a special ceremony held at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The event recognized seven Project SEARCH interns who have successfully completed the program.

Each year, Bon Secours St. Francis Downtown partners with Greenville County Schools and South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation to host students with disabilities, offering hands-on work experience through various hospital internship rotations. In addition to job training, interns receive daily instruction in the areas of daily living skills, functional literacy, functional math, job search skills, self-advocacy, soft-skills, communication, and technology. The program is designed to help students build real-world skills and prepare for meaningful employment after high school.

“Hospital internships help build transferable skills, boost confidence, and foster independence. They leave the program not only better prepared for the workforce, but with a stronger sense of self-worth and the belief that they can succeed in any environment,” said Allison Fleahman, Workforce Coordinator at Bon Secours St. Francis.

Interns train in the Joseph J. Pazdan Project SEARCH Center – a modern, interactive facility featuring classroom spaces and training rooms that simulate hospital care settings, allowing interns to sharpen their skills in preparation for their internships in the hospital setting.

Since launching in 2017, the program has helped 80% of Greenville’s Project SEARCH interns gain employment after graduation – including 22 interns who joined the Bon Secours team. Leaders hope this success story inspires other employers across the Upstate to follow suit.

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.