LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Dressed in medical scrubs, and outfitted with an official hospital identification badge and card key, you would never know that Alondra Gonzalez-Perez is still 3 and a half months from graduating high school.
Gonzalez-Perez is one of the many students who has taken advantage of the Human Kindness Ambassador program CHI Saint Joseph, which launched years ago.
“Our goal right now is to build up our workforce to be able to have our facilities create a recruitment pipeline,” said Megan Eldridge, who works with AmeriCorps.
The program is working as many current employees have come through the program since it launched in 2020, while others are now in school studying for a career in the medical field, as nursing shortages are apparent.
“We need nurses in this world, and this (program) makes me want to do it even more,” Gonzalez-Perez said.
Gonzalez-Perez is a Bryan Station High School senior, who volunteers here in the Endoscopy department.
“The program really reassures me that this is what I want to do because it allows me to see what nurses and doctors do in everyday life,” she explained.
Given her age and inexperience, Gonzalez-Perez and other volunteers don’t have too much to do with the medical side of things. Their mission is much different, and some might argue no less important.
“Offering healing in a way that evidence-based medicine doesn't provide that connection, or that humanity,” said Haley Busch from the hospital’s service excellence team. “That's why we call these folks our human kindness ambassadors."
When you visit the Endoscopy wing with Alondra it’s easy to see how her kindness is rubbing off on the other nurses and medical staff members.
“She is the model, getting a job at the facility and being such a positive person in the role,” Eldridge said.
Alondra completed some certified nurse’s training through the Fayette County Public Schools at Bryan Station High.
If you’d like more information on the CHI St. Joseph Ambassador program, click here: Hello Humankindness | CHI Saint Joseph Health | CHI Saint Joseph Health
