Buddy System Enhances New Team Member Experience at Hillcrest

“Everything was brand new,” Hillcrest South senior patient representative Joe Caperton describes of his first days at work in a hospital environment. “I got upsized out of a job with a bank when our team was replaced by a call center.”

Looking for a new opportunity, Joe walked by a Hillcrest South booth at a job fair. “Health care always interested me.” Though Joe came from a background in finance and banking, his wife is a pediatric physical therapist. Working at a hospital would be a good fit, he thought. “I applied for three positions and got a call for an Emergency Department registration role.”

A new job and new industry can be exciting, but also come with questions and a little anxiety. “It was a little daunting, especially being new to health care,” he recalls. “I had questions left and right.” Though Joe was comfortable with the financial requirements of his new role, he was learning firsthand how to interact and function in a variable and unpredictable Emergency Department.

That experience is something Joe pulls from as be begins a new role with Hillcrest South – a buddy to new team members. When Ed Abrusely, distribution clerk in Materials Management, arrived for his first day, Joe was looking forward to meeting him. “I hope it will make Ed feel that much more welcome and comfortable,” shares Joe. “I think having someone in a different department makes it that much better. I want him to know that he has a family here at Hillcrest South!”

“Joe’s a super guy,” shares Ed, who came to Hillcrest South with five years experience working in a health care environment. “We’ve shared stories. I know he’s available at any time.” As a distribution clerk, Ed and his team are responsible for checking in, counting, sorting, distributing and keeping track of inventory for every product that comes into the hospital. Not even two weeks into his new role, Ed is quickly learning the layout of the hospital and all the departments. “It’s going really well.”

The buddy system is a new program rolling out across Hillcrest HealthCare System, along with the new employee orientation program that connects new hires with their hiring manager and buddy even before their first day at work. Through a web-based portal, new team members receive welcome messages from their buddy, which is a peer from a different department. It is an opportunity to establish a connection with a co-worker to help navigate the first year of employment. From coffee breaks to tours of the hospital or clinic, buddies offer a warm introduction to a new work environment for new team members.

“It means a lot to see a familiar face, smiling, who knows your name,” shares Joe.

“From orientation day one to going forward, it has been wonderful,” Ed says. “Everyone is friendly and welcoming.”

To learn more about career opportunities at Hillcrest South, please visit our careers page.

Photo: Ed Abrusely, distribution clerk in Materials Management with his buddy Joe Caperton, senior patient representative.