From Housekeeping to Pharmacy

When the pandemic hit, Deanne Mathis knew she needed a stable job with good benefits and turned to Firelands Health. She was hired in 2020 as a housekeeper in the environmental services department.

One day, she received an all-staff email mentioning a pharmacy technician training program at Firelands. Although she had completed pharmacy technician training at the Sandusky Career Center in 2010, her certification had lapsed due to the lack of ongoing education.

“It seemed interesting, fast-paced and something different. Since I went for it before, I thought this is my chance. Let’s do it again and stay on top of the continuing education,” said Deanne.

She took the chance and applied for the program, successfully secured an interview, and commenced her training. Deanne said the hardest part of it was obtaining her diploma and transcripts from her high school in Pennsylvania. After a period of time waiting for her diploma, she finalized the paperwork and was moved from the environmental services department to the pharmacy.

Deanne’s training was a combination of short classes a few days a week and on-the-job supervision. While she helped cover shifts for housekeeping, her job was training to be a pharmacy tech. Deanne was training across departments to learn every aspect of the pharmacy within Firelands. Now, she restocks the Pyxis—a medication dispensing system.

Deanne enjoys her new co-workers, but still visits her former team members in the environmental services department when she has time. Good health insurance, retirement plans, free workout classes, employee discount programs and other benefits make a job a great place to work, but it’s the people that make you stay.