A six-week internship with the remuneration service department at Mercy Health is paying off for jobseeker Michael, turning into a paid position after he impressed his managers with his performance.

Michael explains that his job entails working on the computer, and looking after a range of administrative tasks for the department.

“The best aspect about working with Mercy is talking to the members of my team and I now feel I’m contributing to society,” he said.

Alicia Thomas, Organisational Development and Diversity Manager at Mercy Health, said that the organisation first connected with EPIC Assist during a leadership day.

“After EPIC provided us information on hiring people with disability and their internship program. We created a position that filled a need within our remuneration services department,” she said.

“Michael joined the team and began working three days a week for his six-week internship.”

“EPIC provided a transition specialist, who worked alongside Michael during his internship. The specialist not only helped Michael but also our team at Mercy,” says Alicia.

To set Michael up for success, an EPIC transition specialist helped him settle in and to educate the people around him.

“If we had any queries we knew that we could contact Robyn, our transition specialist any time to run something past her, having that extra support meant Michael amalgamated with our team smoothly.”

“The experience has taught our managers that recruiting someone with disability is no harder the recruiting someone without disability.”

“Most people require reasonable adjustment when starting a new role. It’s been great to see how easy it is and we encourage other managers to investigate hiring a person with disability,” says Alicia.

The internship came to an end earlier this June, however due to Michael’s success in the role he is still working at Mercy Health.

Alicia said that Mercy Health had no hesitations proceeding with the internship, and keeping Michael on board because it’s been such a positive experience.

“Michael adds so much value, he carries out his tasks with perfection. He’s done a wonderful job and exactly what we’ve asked him to do. He’s a wonderful asset to Mercy Health.”