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St.Vincent Health partners with Providence Cristo Rey High School

St.Vincent Health announces it is partnering with Providence Cristo Rey High School, a Catholic college-preparatory secondary school sponsored by the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind.  Providence Cristo Rey integrates classroom instruction with a unique real-life corporate work study experiences for each student by partnering with businesses and corporations in the Indianapolis area.  These partnerships allow the school to make a faith-based, student-centered education available at an affordable cost to its students. 

Under the terms of the sponsorship, Providence Cristo Rey students participating in the Corporate Work Study Program will provide support for the Rural Underserved Access to Health (RUAH) ministry at St.Vincent Health. Since 2000, RUAH’s mission is to connect vulnerable populations with services and resources. RUAH serves the communities of Clinton, Howard, Madison, Randolph, Clay, Jennings, Fountain and Warren – all counties where St.Vincent Health has a presence. 

Through this business program, students build the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence to be successful in higher education, in the workplace and in life.  Students job-share in teams to fill the hours of a normal business week; therefore, those students assigned to RUAH will work five full weekdays each week. As part of their RUAH experience, students will participate in a health research project that will center on a specific disease. As part of the project, students will be challenged to develop focus groups and surveys on how to best educate other students about the disease. The information will then be used to develop educational pieces that will distributed to patients in rural, underserved areas of the state, explained Sherry Gray, project director, St.Vincent Health RUAH.

“The beauty of this partnership is that it is not only intended to benefit students, but also the wider community, where the need is greatest,” Gray added. “We want students to understand that although rural health care may be different, people everywhere have the same inherent need to care for their minds and bodies.”

As an added benefit for corporate sponsors, Providence Cristo Rey is charged with handling the administration of a student’s employment including payroll and workers' compensation, making it easier for partners to focus on creating a valuable work experience, Gray explained.

Students will begin work at RUAH this fall. To learn more about Providence Cristo Rey, go online to www.providencecristorey.org.

About MICI-AHEC
Sponsored by St.Vincent Health, the Metropolitan Indianapolis-Central Indiana (MICI) Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is one of five regional centers affiliated with the Indiana AHEC Program Office. MICI-AHEC seeks to provide communities with health care professionals prepared to meet their needs. The MICI-AHEC serves Marion and the surrounding eight counties including: Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Madison, Marion, Johnson and Shelby.

About St.Vincent Health
St.Vincent Health is a healthcare system of 17 hospitals serving 45 counties in central Indiana and is among the largest employers in the state with 11,500 associates and 2,500 physicians. A member of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest Catholic health system, St.Vincent Health is committed to providing “Healthcare That Is Safe,” “Healthcare That Works,” and Healthcare That Leaves No One Behind.”