Parkland workforce development programs build future healthcare leaders
Manager/employee duo prime example of education at work
It was a moment, and later a manager, that changed the course of Oralia Cortina-Jimenez’s life.
The moment was when she gave birth to her daughter in the old Parkland Memorial Hospital while still very young herself.
“I was a young mom, scared out of my mind and the labor and delivery nurses were so kind and gentle. They made me feel safe,” recalls Cortina-Jimenez. “Not one time did I feel judged by them. I felt well taken care of. Since that day, I told myself I would work here one day and do what these wonderful nurses do!”
In 2007, the long road to fulfilling that self-promise began when Cortina-Jimenez was hired as a Parkland Health Medical Assistant, her first full-time job. Seven years later with the desire to continue her education still tugging, Cortina-Jimenez took advantage of Parkland’s Education at Work program which offers pre-paid tuition, books and lab reimbursement support for full-time Parkland employees pursuing their associate degree at Dallas College.
With her plate now extremely full of parenting, work and school, the manager who also changed the course of her life enters the story. Cortina-Jimenez became a Parkland Medical Interpreter. Her new supervisor was Language Services Manager Hugo Castellanos.
“My boss is the kindest, most helpful, most respectful, intelligent, and most hard-working individual I have ever met, and he understands what it is like to be a full-time student and have a full-time job,” said Cortina-Jimenez of Castellanos, who plans to retire next year after 32 years at Parkland.
Castellanos knows a thing or two about working full-time while also pursuing an education. He worked at Parkland, served in the U.S. Navy Active Reserve, and earned his Master of Business in Healthcare Administration all at the same time.
“I experienced how difficult it was to balance work, school and family, and had to sacrifice a lot. When one of my employees makes the decision to go back to school, we have a meeting/counseling session,” said Castellanos. “I explain that it will be a challenge, and if that’s really what they want, then, do not quit. From time to time, we will meet again, and I offer my encouragement, despite all the stress they are experiencing. The best part is, I do get invited to their graduations, and it is one of my proudest moments to see they made it!”
“Hugo is not only a great manager but an excellent mentor as well,” said Cortina-Jimenez. “He wants to see you achieve your goals and dreams. He goes above and beyond to help us students without compromising patient care.”
The trail Castellanos has blazed for Cortina-Jimenez and numerous other Parkland employees began in April of 1992 when he was hired as a Parkland Language Assistant/Patient Representative while also raising a family and still serving in the U.S. Navy Reserves. Soon, he added education to his own full plate by earning his Master’s in Business and Healthcare Administration.
Over the course of his three decades at Parkland, Castellanos not only mentored countless medical interpreters, but he also implemented training for new hires in the complicated, technical art of medical interpretation. He was also instrumental in implementing a unique practice at Parkland. Medical interpreters now routinely respond to all Code Blue resuscitation emergencies and Code FAST stroke emergencies in the hospital just in case their language skills can help save a life.
But if you ask Cortina-Jimenez and Castellanos’ many other employees through the years, they will tell you that his mentorship and unwavering support of their continued education is what they will remember most. His support for Cortina-Jimenez continued in 2021 when she was named a recipient of Parkland’s Reach for the Stars Nursing Scholarship. It covered the entire cost of her tuition and books for the Dallas College nursing program and helped her finally fulfill that promise she made to herself years earlier as a scared young mother in a Parkland hospital room.
“Without Parkland’s education programs, I would not be where I am right now, which is starting my operating room nurse residency,” said Cortina-Jimenez. “Thanks to the Education at Work Program and Reaching for the Stars scholarship, all I had to do was focus on school and not stress about the financial part of it. My manager Hugo was helpful regarding my nursing class schedule and clinical schedule, and his encouraging words and advice helped me achieve my dream.”
Castellanos retired from the Navy in 2013 after 26 years of service, and while he now has his eye on his upcoming retirement from Parkland, Cortina-Jimenez is just beginning her nursing career with a new dream in mind.
“God willing, I will retire as a Parkland employee someday. Just like my boss.”
To learn more about careers at Parkland, visit www.parklandcareers.com. For more information about Parkland services, visit www.parklandhealth.org.
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