Over the past 15 years (minus a few weeks, but we’ll get to that), Michael Souza has built an amazing career at Southcoast Health that took some unexpected and rewarding turns.    

After graduating high school in 2010, it was an easy decision for Michael to look for work at Southcoast, since working here was something of a family business. His mother, Kim Pina, has worked at Southcoast for 35 years and is currently Manager of third-party patient accounts. His sister spent more than 10 years as a Southcoast phlebotomist.  

At 18 years old, Michael joined Food & Nutrition as a Service Worker and worked in the kitchen at St. Luke’s for five years. After completing college, he briefly left Southcoast Health for a sales job but quickly realized it wasn’t the right move. Fortunately, he was able to return to his Food & Nutrition role – and that was when things got interesting.   

Michael learned about an internship program with the Epic team, applied and was accepted. Since it was a three-month program, he continued working for Food & Nutrition as a per diem. The internship was a success, and when it ended, his manager encouraged him to apply for a permanent position as an EMR Support Specialist/Credentialed Trainer. Michael got the job, and in 2015, his DHS Era began. He became credentialed in several Epic applications and continued to learn and take on new opportunities. 

In 2016, Michael took the next step and became an Instructional Designer. In this role, he has trained thousands of new employees on Epic, creating and maintaining training materials, developing classroom and computer-based learning modules, and much more. He continued to advance, and today Michael is a Senior Instructional Designer and also handles Epic analyst work.  

According to Michael, what’s kept him at Southcoast for 15 years has been the people. His leaders have all been open, caring, and invested in his success. And, he has had literally hundreds of great coworkers over the years. As he summarized, Southcoast Health is a great organization to grow with. 

Eras Tour Q&A 

Q: You left Southcoast Health and then came back in just a few weeks?! Was it complicated to get your old job back? 
A: I’m very thankful that I was able to rejoin Southcoast Health so seamlessly because I quickly realized how much I wanted to come back! My Food & Nutrition position was still open, and I was able to quickly complete the steps to get rehired.  

Q: What advice would you give your 18-year-old self? 
A: I would tell myself that it’s important to be flexible. Life throws lots of surprises at you, and the easier you can adapt to new situations, the more successful you’ll be. I’ve been experiencing this on a personal level since becoming a new dad last year. I would also encourage my younger self to keep challenging himself. I certainly haven’t gotten every opportunity I’ve gone for, but the important thing is that I went for them. I know I wouldn’t be where I am today professionally if I hadn’t pushed myself.

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