Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC is RX for Kaiser Workforce

Photos and Story by James Hill

by Chris MooreHiring and keeping good employees can be a challenge, even in a slowing economy. High turnover requires managers to spend a great deal of time interviewing, training, and coaching new employees.That was certainly the case for pharmacist Sandra Teeny, manager of Kaiser Permanente’s Automated Refill Center Pharmacy in Portland. Workers at the pharmacy use the latest automated equipment to fill, package and ship prescriptions to Kaiser Permanente members in Oregon and Washington.Three years ago, Kaiser Permanente formed a partnership with Portland Community College to train dislocated immigrant workers and place them in healthcare jobs. The Automated Refill Center Pharmacy was one of the first departments to take part in the program."Before we started working with PCC, we had a difficult time finding good applicants for our packaging clerk positions and had a high turnover rate,"Teeny says. "PCC worked with us to set up tours for the students and helped place some of them at our site for internships."Results have been nothing short of remarkable. Of the 13 PCC students who have served internships at the pharmacy, 11 have been hired as permanent employees. Turnover among these employees is zero, and Teeny says they are some of the most responsible and dedicated people on her staff.Regional Team Ready to HelpTraining for dislocated immigrant workers is one of several programs offered by the federally funded Dislocated Worker Program, a joint metro area effort of Portland and Mt. Hood community colleges. The program provides consultation and support services to companies forced to lay off workers, helping employees to take advantage of opportunities for jobs and retraining. A significant number of workers laid off from production jobs do not speak English as their native language. Difficulty with the language makes it especially hard for these workers to find new employment. In 1999, Tanya Mead, training coordinator, and Phyllis Solow, lead teacher, came up with an idea for a new program designed to meet the needs of these dislocated workers."We looked at various industries, and decided that healthcare has a lot of job variety,"Mead says. "We made a list of the jobs we thought these people could do, wrote a proposal, and took it to Kaiser Permanente."With encouragement from the company’s Human Resources Department, the pair interviewed managers to learn the needs of each department. Then they developed a curriculum that prepares students to meet specific job demands. Tours and internships were included to give them hands-on experience. "Immigrant workers in hospitals tend to work in housekeeping and food service,"Mead says. "The ESL Healthcare Training Program is designed to train people for a wider variety of jobs, most of which offer opportunities for advancement."A Stringent Screening ProcessTo help students succeed and to ensure that employers get trained, motivated workers, the training program carefully screens the applicants. Only about 20 percent of those who apply are accepted. To enter the program, they must first meet standards for reading, writing, speaking, and English comprehension. Students must also be willing to work nights and weekends because healthcare operates around the clock. Finally, each applicant must successfully complete an interview that demonstrates his or her ability to speak clearly.Students who meet these high standards enroll in a 17-week training program that introduces them to the skills, communication, safety issues and career paths related to jobs in pharmacy packaging, sterile processing, lab assisting, filing, general clerical, and other positions.Classes also cover customer service skills, workplace communication and safety, medical vocabulary, and job readiness. When training and internship are complete, team members work closely with each student to help students find a job. There’s no obligation on the part of employers to hire program participants, however.Since its beginning, the ESL Healthcare Training Program has helped more than 100 students find new careers. In addition to its partnership with Kaiser Permanente, the program has expanded to include Legacy and Providence health systems, Oregon Health Sciences University, and most recently, Tuality Healthcare."This program has been so successful, both for workers and for employers, that we’ve expanded it to include two new areas,"Mead says. "In addition to healthcare, we are now offering ESL-based training in office skills and food service."Exemplary EmployeesSandra Teeny can’t say enough good things about the workers she’s hired through PCC."They’re just exceptional employees,"she says. "They are self-directed, motivated, responsible, accurate and fast. They take pride in what they do and are almost never absent."Language is seldom a barrier, according to Teeny. "If someone doesn’t understand an instruction, they’ll ask or send someone else in to clarify what I meant,"she says. Morale among the diverse employee population at the pharmacy is high, she adds.Employees from Vietnam, Ukraine, Egypt and China rub shoulders with each other and with American employees. In recognition of the staff’s diversity, workers have enjoyed international potlucks, a flag day, and holiday parties unique to each country. When an employee becomes a citizen, everybody celebrates. Recently, the pharmacy staff earned a diversity award for Kaiser Permanente because of their willingness to embrace and celebrate diversity. "We want to create an atmosphere where everyone feels like part of the team,"Teeny says.####(employee profile sidebars)Andy DinhAndy Dinh was a major in the South Vietnamese Army before the fall of Saigon. After U.S. troops left the country, he spent 10 years in a communist re-education camp. With the sponsorship of friends from the Portland area, he and his family came to the United States in 1992."As a former military officer, I knew my sons would never be allowed to attend university in Vietnam,"Dinh says. "Now one has a nursing degree and the other is about to earn his Ph.D. in economics."Shortly after arriving in Portland, he found a job at Hall Laboratories, a firm manufacturing vitamins and other nutritional supplements. In 2000 the Portland operation closed when the company got sold.Dinh signed up for the ESL Healthcare Training Program. He began his internship at Kaiser Permanente’s Automated Refill Center Pharmacy in April 2000 and Kaiser hired him one month later."I feel that I am helping people by working in a pharmacy, and we all get along so well,"he says. "I am lucky to work here."Duyen NguyenBefore the fall of South Vietnam, Duyen Nguyen worked as a receptionist for a U.S. company with operations there. Her husband, like so many of his peers, was in the military. When the war ended, Nguyen lost her job and her husband went to a camp for former military officers. During the six years he was away, she supported her family by running a coffee shop and working in a pharmacy.Nguyen and her family came to the United States in 1991. Shortly after her arrival here, she signed up for English as a Non-Native Language and other classes at PCC’s Cascade campus. Before long, she found a job at Tyco Toys.After being laid off in 1997, Nguyen returned to PCC for additional training. She completed the healthcare training program in late 1999 and started her new job at the Automated Refill Center Pharmacy in January 2000."At PCC, I improved my English and I learned how to use a computer, interview, and fill out a job application,"she says. "I like working here. I know that if I have a problem, my manager is always willing to help."Linh PhamLinh Pham was a hairdresser before her family left Vietnam in 1992. But when she got to the United States she found that she was allergic

to the chemicals used in hair salons here. Eager to get back to work, Pham landed a soldering job at Fujitsu. After three years, the company decided to close the plant and she found herself out of work again."I went to PCC to learn more English and to learn how to use a computer,"she says. "I was the first Asian to apply for a job at the Automated Refill Center Pharmacy. Now there are many of us."Pham has set a goal of becoming a pharmacy assistant and eventually would like to study nursing. "I feel there is an opportunity to advance here,"she says.