Workplace Development Program “Changed Everything” for One Intermountain Health Medical Assistant

Stephanie Loy’s life looked radically different two years ago. She worked two security jobs in downtown Denver, but it still wasn’t enough to pay her bills, nor did it give her purpose.

Thanks to a new workforce development program and collaboration between Intermountain Health and CrossPurpose — a Denver nonprofit Loy is now a medical assistant at Intermountain Health’s Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver

“I always wanted to be in health care, but after I graduated high school, I was told I couldn’t go to college because I didn’t have the money,” said Loy.

“I wanted something better,” she said.

Loy then heard about CrossPurpose. Through personal and professional development, the program aims to eliminate relational, economic, and spiritual poverty.

“We approach our work holistically because while poverty shows its effects financially, the solution is often relational and spiritual,” said Jason Janz, CEO of CrossPurpose. “While money can help someone escape financial poverty, holistic transformation builds a life of flourishing.”

The collaboration between Intermountain Health and CrossPurpose started years ago and was born out of research by Intermountain’s (then SCL Health) Community Health team, which identified economic stability as a core need, especially in the nine neighborhoods just north of Saint Joseph Hospital.

“Access to good health really is rooted in economics. Barriers to accessing quality education and training affect multiple generations in families who don’t know anything different,” said Chuck Ault, community health manager for Intermountain Health. “This is really where heart disease, diabetes, and food insecurity come from.”

Individuals in the program spend the first few months in deep self-discovery, receiving counseling and often therapy to be ready for the education and training coming. The participants, called leaders, get a stipend so they can focus on their growth and development.

When Loy entered the program, she had just found an apartment. She’d been living in her car for a few months when she entered the program. Leaders who enter the program have an average annual wage of $8,000.

“It was such a huge impact for me,” Loy said. “It really changed everything.”

CrossPurpose has several career tracks — administrative, sales, culinary, transportation, trades, and health care.

Loy pursued the medical assistant track and was hired within a short time following her externship at Saint Joseph’s. She is one of 12 CrossPurpose alumni hired by Intermountain Health.

Additionally, this program helps provide personal growth in various ways such as through career coaching, mock interviews, and resume workshops.

“I just love it,” Loy said. “I love patient care and I love being able to help people and to serve God this way.”

Ault explains that the long-term plan is to continue to develop these caregivers, offering further career growth.

Loy already knows she wants further opportunities. She loves her current role in the Cancer Center and is considering a future in nursing or as a radiology technologist.

“I believe if you want to make a change in your life, if you want to make it better, CrossPurpose is such a great place to start,” Loy said.

For more information, visit Intermountain Health.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.