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Building a Career <br />with Allina Health <br />A Service Committed to Helping People Grow <br />One of the things Allina Health EMS prides itself on is hiring good people—and <br />keeping them. <br />“It sounds clichéd but it’s true, what we look for in the hiring process is just good <br />people. We have two skills questions to make sure that a candidate paid attention in <br />school, but we trust that we can teach people how to do the job,” says Matt Miron, a <br />paramedic supervisor, who heads up the recruiting process from the EMS-side. “But <br />we can’t make you a good person. We want to hire people who try to do the right <br />thing, every time.” <br />Getting good people in the door is only part of <br />the challenge, though. For Allina Health EMS <br />leadership, the goal is also to help committed <br />professionals develop a career and grow with <br />the organization. “We want to bring in people <br />who are committed to providing excellent care,” <br />says Brian LaCroix, President and Chief of Allina <br />Health EMS. “We want to give them the support <br />they need to grow professionally. We have a lot <br />of long-time employees. Our employees provide <br />the best referrals for new employees. I think <br />that speaks to people’s feeling of fulfillment and <br />engagement here.” <br />LaCroix is the first to admit that EMS is as much a <br />calling as a career. Caring for people in traumatic <br />or painful situations can take its toll. But when we <br />talked to long-time Allina EMS employees about <br />their career longevity and professional growth, <br />four themes emerged: <br />1. A GROWTH MINDSET among the <br />organization’s leadership <br />2. AN OPENNESS to emotional vulnerability in <br />the workplace <br />3. COMRADERY and supportiveness among <br />co-workers <br />4. MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS with <br />patients and colleagues <br />MEMORABLE CAREER MOMENT <br />Rob Stanfield started at Allina Health EMS in <br />1996 and has worked as a vehicle service tech, <br />a special transportation driver, an EMT in BLS & <br />ALS, a paramedic, a paramedic FTO, and now <br />as a critical care paramedic. What has kept him <br />going through the many years he has worked <br />in EMS is the privilege of dropping into <br />people’s lives. <br />One of his most memorable transports was <br />taking an older man with Stage IV cancer to the <br />hospital. “He told me his story about escaping <br />from the Auschwitz concentration camp during <br />the night. I asked him, ‘How do you go through <br />life and endure something like that, seeing a <br />whole generation wiped out. How do you have a <br />smile on your face?’ He told me he had made a <br />promise to his family to live forward. He escaped <br />to the United States and grew this amazing <br />family. That’s why he had that beautiful smile on <br />his face—he felt completion.” <br />Rob says when he goes back through his own <br />life now and remembers difficult calls, he often <br />thinks of that gentleman. “I love what I do. It’s <br />hard. I know I’ve seen some things that I will <br />never be able to describe. But I am very proud <br />of what I do, and I’m very proud of the people I <br />work with. They keep me going. “ <br />2 ALLINA HEALTH EMS COMMUNITY REPORT 2018 3