Mercy Health, Urban League program sees first medical doctor alum

LORAIN — More than a decade after he first interned with Mercy Health, Jordan Brown is on track to become a doctor. Brown, a 2010 graduate of Admiral King High School in Lorain, is the first intern from an Urban League-Mercy Health partnership to receive a medical doctorate degree. He graduated this weekend from Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, and is set to start his residency at a hospital in East Liverpool. None of it would be possible without the Rising Star intern program, he said. The program, an initiative between the Lorain County Urban League and Mercy Health Lorain invites area high school students to work at the hospital, shadowing doctors and nurses, as well as administrative, food services, finance and marketing staff, said Catherine Woskobnick, director of community health at Mercy Health Lorain. Its goal is to boost the pipeline into health care for students from diverse backgrounds, breaking down barriers individuals may have. "You can overcome any barrier as long as you have the courage to ask for help," Woskobnick said. "And so we really try to create that relationship to say 'we are here for you.' However, if you don't tell us — we're more than willing to do anything for you. Write those reference letters, to connect you with jobs, however it is a relationship piece. I think that is so important to raise their level of accountability." Urban League President Parris Smith agreed. To help lift some financial burden from participants' shoulders, the monthlong, 40-hour-per-week internship is paid. "We recognize the population that we serve, they have responsibilities," Smith said. For Woskobnick, the program has been a labor of love watching 85 students pass through the hospital's halls — including Brown and Smith. "I always get emotional when I talk about it," she said during a Zoom call with the young professionals just days before Brown's graduation. For Brown, who always wanted to be a doctor, the program — something he became involved in at the behest of his grandmother, Charlesetta Brown — offered a pathway to make that dream a reality. "I didn't realize this until most recently, I've always wanted to provide for my family and be able to find a career that allowed me to be able to give back to my family," he said. "In my mind, back then, I didn't really have much exposure — but it was always doctors, lawyers, police officers, community leaders. ... Having a close-knit community allowed me to find my pathway into medicine, just like Miss Parris has found her pathway in the public sector. ... I believe the program allowed us to create that space for ourselves." Starting in the mid-2000s, Brown and Smith began their time in Rising Stars. There, they and others in the program forged lifelong relationships, Smith said, and developed their personal missions and core values. Brown urged high school students interested in medical or adjacent fields to apply for the program, as those services — especially during a pandemic — are not going away. "We learn that at Mercy that you have to see people, that you have to take time to acknowledge them and then we tie that into how the hospital system works," Smith said. "So always explaining to students if you don't have the house keepers, or transport, no one else can do their job. ... They all bring value, regardless of how much they get paid." It is a mindset she carries with her today, stopping to talk to anyone she passes by — much to her family's chagrin. But without Woskobnick, it wouldn't be the same, Brown said. She is the "beating heart" of the Rising Stars, he said. The close-knit community of not only Mercy Health Lorain, but its partnerships in Lorain County, have helped Brown and Parris find their way forward, Brown said, while expanding his own support system. "I will randomly get a picture from (Woskobnick or Smith) with my grandma and it's just so beautiful to see that they've become a part of my family," he said. "It's through the relationships that have been built through Rising Stars that I can say that this is possible and where I'm at is actually coming to fruition." For more information about Rising Stars, visit lcul.org. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.