When caregivers (employees) share what they love about working at Providence, they often talk about supportive managers and coworkers who go the extra mile to help each other out. Kadlec Ultrasound Sonographer Mirza experienced the true meaning of “support” within our organization when she faced two overwhelming tragedies in her life. Here’s Mirza’s story.

Support from the start through family loss

After accepting a position as an Ultrasound Technologist with Kadlec, Mirza was excited to dive into her new role. Unfortunately, two weeks before she began working, Mirza’s brother passed away unexpectedly. Though she wasn’t yet a caregiver, her manager, Anne, reached out to offer condolences and flexibility in her start date. “I hadn’t even started working and I knew then that they were going to take care of me if I ever had another hard situation come up,” Mirza recalls. This early gesture of compassion only reinforced her confidence in her decision to join the organization.

“Kadlec took care of me when I was at my absolute lowest.”

Heartbreakingly, a few years into her time at Kadlec, tragedy struck again; Mirza was in a major accident and lost her right hand. “People would visit me and ask what I was going to do now since we need both hands for ultrasound,” she remembers. “I talked to Anne and asked if I could come back. And she said, ‘Are you kidding me? Why would I not take you back?’”

Recalls Mirza, “To this day, I tear up about it because when you have something like this happen to you, you feel like, ‘What good am I now?’ Yes, I’m a mother and I’m a wife, but I also I want to feel like I have a professional purpose. I asked myself, ‘Will I be able to work?’ And Kadlec gave me the opportunity.”

Relearning her craft in reverse with the help of a robotic prosthetic

Mirza explains that in ultrasound, everybody, even left-handed people, scans with their right hand. Returning to work without her dominant hand would be an uphill battle, but Anne assured her that Kadlec would provide whatever she needed to make it happen.

This assistance included her extensive insurance benefits. Mirza says, “The insurance we have here is great. The biggest reason why I was able to come back to work is because I needed a prosthesis that was water resistant and robust. Kadlec was able to help me get that hand.”

Mirza worked hard to retrain her body to do her job in reverse. She says, “Not only am I scanning with the opposite hand, I’m sitting on the opposite side of the patient, and their organs are opposite. So, everything’s backwards and turned around.”

She says her coworkers and manager have been patient with her through the process. “I’m back to work and, and I’m here. That’s what’s great. I would say there’s no better place than Kadlec.”

A “bend over backwards” team environment

What started as an exploration of a new field turned into a fulfilling career, made better by her coworkers, whom Mirza describes as a close-knit family. She says the supportive atmosphere at Kadlec contrasts sharply with her previous experiences, where the culture was more individualistic. “We all have each other’s backs. We take care of each other. We support each other.” This strong sense of community has been a significant source of comfort and strength for her.

And Mirza says that Anne continues to be just as supportive day-to-day as she was before Mirza started working at Kadlec. Mirza describes Anne as someone who is always willing to go the extra mile to ensure the team’s wellbeing is protected. “She will bend over backwards to do everything she needs to do to keep all of us happy.”

If you want to work with teams who encourage and celebrate the gifts in one another through life’s ups and downs, view all jobs.