McLaren Oakland, part of statewide McLaren Health Care, with Clarkston Community Schools have marked the completion of the inaugural year of its Project SEARCH partnership with the celebration of its first graduating class.
Project SEARCH is a nationwide initiative dedicated to providing young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with additional training and education in professional environments following their completion of school.
McLaren Oakland partnered with Clarkston Community Schools last summer to provide the Pontiac-based hospital and McLaren Clarkston as host sites, at which Project SEARCH performed various non-clinical duties and assisted the staff.
The graduating class of 2024 are Daniel Crull, Elijah Jacobson, Mitchell Martin, and Arielle Williams.
“When we were initially approached for this partnership, we were immediately impressed by their mission and passion for this project,” said Tracey Franovich, McLaren Oakland President and CEO. “These students were incredibly helpful and a joy to have at our Pontiac and Clarkston campuses, and we wish each of these graduates the very best in wherever life should take them.”
A nine-month, internship-style program for 18- to 26-year-olds, the aim is to provide its students with skills that will help them obtain competitive employment upon completion.
At McLaren Oakland and McLaren Clarkston, students worked with the staffs in the emergency department, breast center, diagnostic imaging department, and physical therapy, assisting in a variety of responsibilities, including greeting and directing patients, office work, contacting patients about appointment reminders, rounding on patients for comfort, along with other duties.
“I am extremely grateful for McLaren for partnering with Project SEARCH and Clarkston Community Schools,” said Jamie Peters, Clarkston Community Schools Project SEARCH instructor. “Without this partnership our interns would not have the opportunity to grow and learn, and this program has allowed them the opportunity to be included in the workforce. Congratulations to the first graduating class at McLaren.”
While this was the organization’s first partner in Clarkston, Project SEARCH has multiple partnerships and opportunities for its students in Oakland County and throughout the Metro Detroit area.
Started in 1996 at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to serve the facility’s employees with developmental disabilities, furthering their training with complex and systematic tasks. The program has since expanded across the country with more than 730 host sites in 48 states.
Learn more about all of the services available at McLaren Clarkston at mclaren.org/clarkston and McLaren Oakland at mclaren.org/oakland.
About McLaren Clarkston
McLaren Clarkston represents the largest ground-up development in the history of the corporation. The $600 million health care village project, located on 95 acres of prime real estate in northern Oakland County, is being developed in two phases. Phase I opened in May 2009 and includes a 138,000 sq. ft. Medical Office Building, a 42,000 sq. ft. freestanding cancer center and a 5-acre Garden of Healing and Renewal. Learn more at mclaren.org/clarkston.
About McLaren Oakland
McLaren Oakland is a 318-bed hospital that provides primary and specialty healthcare services to the greater Pontiac and Oakland County, Michigan communities. Founded in 1953, McLaren Oakland has grown to a comprehensive medical community that includes outpatient facilities in Clarkston and Oxford, in addition to an inpatient hospital in Pontiac providing a range of clinical services including emergency and trauma care, cardiology, cancer services, minimally invasive robotic surgery, and orthopedic services. McLaren Oakland offers ACGME accredited residency and fellowship programs in anesthesiology, diagnostic radiology, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine, and transitional year, in addition to a CPME accredited podiatry program. Learn more at mclaren.org/oakland.
About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a $6.6 billion, fully integrated health care delivery system committed to quality, evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 13 hospitals in Michigan, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, a 490-member employed primary and specialty care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 732,838 lives in Michigan and Indiana, home health, infusion and hospice providers, pharmacy services, a clinical laboratory network and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Karmanos Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S. McLaren has 28,000 full-, part-time and contracted employees and more than 113,000 network providers throughout Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Learn more at mclaren.org.