Community Care: A Way to Boost Local Hiring?

Hiring locally can be highly advantageous for healthcare organizations.

When healthcare professionals have local experience, they better understand the unique needs, challenges and concerns of patients and their communities. Their communication is effective, and the care they provide is culturally competent. Hiring local talent also supports community development and allows people to connect with communities on deeper levels.

In recent months, Cleveland Clinic has been aiming to increase local hires at its Cleveland-area locations. In 2023, the organization surpassed its original goal by hiring 2,100 local residents by year’s end.

New hires were recruited through regional pop-up hiring events. For example, 40 were the direct result of a community career exposition, and others came from a canvassing day with Cleveland city councilmembers who knocked on hundreds of residents’ doors in the neighborhoods surrounding Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus.

“Highlighted among our organization’s top performance strategies for local recruitment are interview events and career expos, as well as hiring through our apprenticeship programs,” says Kimberly Peavy, Program Manager, Talent Acquisition. “There are many creative ways organizations can bring in local candidates.”

Hiring opportunities through community care

Peavy’s team supports workforce diversity. One way they look to acquire diverse local talent is by partnering with Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Community Health Workers.

The Center, which opened to the public in 2022, is located in Cleveland Clinic’s Langston Hughes Center. Community health workers connect Peavy’s team with patients (Cleveland-area residents) who need employment and are interested in learning more about jobs in healthcare.

“We aim to help patients who face social determinants of health by removing barriers and providing resources,” says Graciela Emerson, a women’s health community health worker in the Center. “It’s a wonderful thing to offer resources to patients to help them gain employment.”

“Our organization has found that one of the most effective actions is eliminating barriers and obstacles that hinder candidates from obtaining routes to employment and securing stable, family sustaining career opportunities,” says Peavy.

From patient to caregiver

Last year, Emerson received a referral from Cleveland Clinic’s obstetrics navigation team for a young woman and Cleveland-area resident, Chavonne Washington. Washington needed resources but did not have a primary care provider (PCP).

Emerson helped the patient establish care with a PCP so she could take control of her personal health and wellness. Emerson also began meeting with Washington monthly. She learned that the soon-to-be mother was working in food service but didn’t like her job. She also discovered that Washington had previously worked in healthcare as a home health aide.

“Chavonne expressed a desire to get back into healthcare,” Emerson says. “She wanted to do better for herself and her baby. I offered additional information and connected her with Kim. Together, we devised a plan for her future.”

That included guiding Washington toward a career path that aligned with her skills, experience and passions.

“Taking care of people is one of my passions,” says Washington, who now works as a patient care nursing assistant (PCNA) on the H-81 medical-telemetry unit at main campus. “I first considered becoming a surgical tech, but the PCNA role seemed like a better fit. It aligned with my background, allowed me to provide direct patient care, and only required a few weeks of training.”

After her baby was born and Washington was ready to start working again, Peavy assisted her with her application, prepared her for the interview process, outlined expectations for being a Cleveland Clinic caregiver, and more.

“At Cleveland Clinic, we discovered that early preparation enhances individuals’ readiness for career opportunities,” says Peavy. “We go above and beyond presenting job opportunities and delve into our organization’s values, core principals and strategies for skill enhancement.”

Providing this level of preparation before someone applies and interviews makes candidates more successful, better prepares them for their role and increases retention. Cleveland Clinic is in the process of launching a Skill Development Center in support of this strategy.

Support equals success

After Washington was hired, Peavy and Emerson also put her in touch with a local organization that provided her scrubs for work.

“I am thankful I was connected with so many helpful people and that I was able to get my foot in the door,” says Washington. “It was great to have help throughout the process instead of doing it on my own.”

Washington sees herself working at Cleveland Clinic for many years to come. In the future, she hopes to apply for a PCNA position at Hillcrest Hospital, which is closer to her home.

“I’m grateful to be working at Cleveland Clinic,” Washington says. “It’s a place where you can level-up, grow and move on to the next step. I’ve told a lot of people about my experience so they will also consider working here.”