Essentia Health to be recognized for supporting employment of people with a disability

Essentia Health is proud to announce it is being recognized by Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Vocational Rehab office for its work on hiring people with disabilities. We are being honored with the Outstanding Disability Employer Award for our efforts in this area in 2023.

Essentia is partnered with Duluth-based organizations like UDAC, Trillium and more. Statewide, young adults with disabilities have an opportunity to intern at Essentia Health St. Mary’s-Detroit Lakes in partnership with Project Search. The mission of these organizations is to encourage individuals to lead fulfilling and purposeful lives by, among other things, gaining and maintaining employment.

Currently, Essentia employs 13 people with disabilities in our nutrition and environmental services departments. Last year, they worked about 7,000 hours making meaningful wages that are competitive with other employees doing similar jobs with similar experience.

“We think giving everyone a fair shot at employment is of the utmost importance,” said Chad Nurminen, Essentia’s support services director. “They get to be a part of a team and make a living, while also being part of and serving our community. Our staff has embraced and welcomed these individuals and have been instrumental in the success. Many employees have felt great pride and joy in being able to train and work alongside these individuals.”

Essentia has been partnering with outside agencies on initiatives like this for decades.

“Thank you to the team at Essentia for the powerful partnership with Udac to create employment opportunities for people of all abilities,” said Karen Herman, executive director at Udac. “This 37-year collaboration has a history of cutting-edge program design to advance people with disabilities in integrated employment and community inclusion.  This work actualizes Minnesota’s Employment First commitment and most importantly, it strengthens our community and advances individuals to achieve in the community. Thank you to you and your team for your valuable work.”

As a leader in this field, Essentia is always looking to expand these opportunities for people with disabilities and currently has several open positions.

“We’re proud to be recognized for our work in this area,” said Nurminen. “But we don’t do it to win awards, we do it because we care about our community, we care about the people that live, work and play here and we want to make sure everyone has a fair chance to lead fulfilling and purpose-driven lives.”

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.