CompleteCare launches paid summer internship program in Bridgeton

CompleteCare Health Network launched CompleteCare Compass, an eight-week paid summer internship in Bridgeton that gives local students hands-on exposure to health care work. The inaugural class includes high school juniors and seniors, undergraduate students and graduate students from Cumberland, Gloucester and Cape May counties.

Interns will rotate through or learn from medical, dental, community service and outreach, administration, behavioral health, information technology and other operational areas that keep the network running. The students will work alongside professionals and receive one-on-one mentorship as they build practical skills in leadership, communication and the day-to-day expectations of the workplace.

James Curtis Edwards, CompleteCare’s president and chief executive officer, joined CompleteCare in 2004 and later became part of the executive team focused on community engagement and government relations. The City of Bridgeton lists him as both a council member and president of CompleteCare Health Network. Compass aims to provide “meaningful, hands-on healthcare experience” and prepare students for “future careers and leadership opportunities.”

The organization traces its roots to the Community Health Improvement Program in the 1970s and has grown into one of the largest community health systems in South Jersey. The network operates 19 patient-centered locations and serves more than 55,000 patients across Cumberland, Gloucester and Cape May counties. It provides care regardless of age, income or insurance status, and holds Federal Public Health Service deemed status while receiving funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.