JOY SOLOMON

Inspires and Encourages Others to Achieve

story by LYNNE COPE HUMMELL

An innovator is someone who finds a new way to do something.

While it may be fitting that Joy Solomon, director of education at Beaufort Memorial, was named the organization’s Innovator of the Year during its recent 2023 “Bemmy Awards,” it wasn’t surprising to those who know her.

“Innovation is one of Beaufort Memorial’s core values, and there is no better example than Joy,” said Beaufort Memorial President & CEO Russell Baxley when he announced the award — presented in recognition of Solomon’s leadership of the hospital’s newly minted PATH (People Achieving Their Highest) career development program.

EARLY SIGNS
Solomon’s knack for innovation was evident as early as her freshman year at Beaufort High School. (Although some might argue that just getting through childhood as the youngest of ten children probably required a good bit of innovation too.)

Inspired by her mother and three older sisters, Solomon knew by ninth grade that she wanted to become a nurse someday. She also knew that college and nursing school would be costly. Her parents were already retired by the time she was born and on a fixed income.

“I didn’t want to be a burden or for them to feel pressured about college for me,” she said.

So, the teenage Joy got innovative – coming up with a plan to finance her education. Without her parents’ knowledge, she began saving her allowance and lunch money.

“I was strategic about what I would get for lunch, never spending all of what I was given,” she said. “I would just put that aside.”

After four years of high school, Solomon saved enough to pay for her first year at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, aided by a Pell grant. She later transferred to and graduated from the University of South Carolina with her nursing degree and came home to work at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. She began in a clinical role as a staff nurse in March 2000, and progressed to charge nurse and clinical coordinator before transitioning into the Education Department in 2004.

“Trish Deems, the previous director of education, recruited me to the department,” said Solomon. “She believed that I was a leader, often giving me the most challenging projects to manage, and whenever she was out of the office, she would leave me in charge.”

Solomon says that, before her retirement, Deems made sure that she had the training needed and was instrumental in preparing her to lead the department and be successful.

“I will always be grateful for her believing in me and allowing me to grow,” she said.

Now, as the department’s director, Solomon has shepherded the PATH program from its beginnings to the successful model it has quickly become.

Recognized by the South Carolina Hospital Association as an innovative example of workforce development, the program welcomed its inaugural cohort in May 2022. Designed to help staff learn new skills, earn advanced certifications, and grow their careers at the hospital, the program is structured to allow staff to continue working in their current role while participating. It includes traditional education, clinical training, scholarships, and other financial assistance to encourage and incentivize individuals to advance their careers — while at the same time building a better healthcare network for the community.

The program also supports students as they navigate the path before them. “Nurses, for example, are in orientation for 12 weeks,” Solomon said, “So we follow them for that 12 weeks to make sure they are supported, but also to make sure they are becoming competent in the skills that they need to be proficient in their unit at the bedside.”

In her role as director, Solomon not only facilitates the training for clinicians and other employees within the hospital, but she also has a hands-on role in teaching some of the classes.

A PASSION FOR EDUCATION
While it might sound like an unlikely career shift from nurse to educator, mention “teaching,” and Solomon’s face lights up.

“If I could identify the thing I love the most about my job, it’s teaching,” she said. “I love helping others grow professionally. I love watching a lightbulb go on, helping others understand things, and inspiring a desire for excellence.”

While teaching was not Solomon’s first career choice, it was likely her first passion. As a child, one of her favorite pastimes was playing school.

“I was always the teacher, and my nieces and nephews who were a little younger than me were in my class,” she said with a laugh. “I had my chalkboard, and I would look at whatever they were working on, and I would create lesson plans — as a little girl!”

Like her parents, that little girl grew up on St. Helena Island. Her father was in the military, so the family had moved around a lot, including overseas, before she was born. When he retired, they moved back home to the Lowcountry, where nine of the ten children graduated from Beaufort High School. Though she had a wonderful childhood, Solomon said in her younger days, she yearned to go away and experience the world.

“I couldn’t wait to go to college,” she said.

Her wanderlust didn’t take her too far. She says that “for some reason,” she had become fascinated with Columbia — one of the reasons she chose to study at USC.

But after those few years away, she came to appreciate Beaufort more.

“I came back home after I graduated from nursing school and thought I’d move somewhere else in a few years,” Solomon said. “But one day, driving home from work, I decided to take the scenic route and remembered how beautiful it is here. I realized that this is home.”

Living in Beaufort has also been good for the grown-up version of Joy Solomon, now married to husband, Tron, who she met at a church service.

“I was a guest speaker at the church, and unbeknownst to me, his cousin was the pastor of the church,” she said. “I reckon he liked what I had to say because the rest is history.”

Married for more than ten years, with 9-year-old identical twin girls, Brooke and Taylor, they are enjoying the “good life” her parents always encouraged her to make for herself. That life includes time for a favorite hobby: “I play the organ at my church,” Solomon said with a smile. “I play by ear. I don’t have time to practice too much, but I enjoy it.”

Solomon credits her parents, Arthur and Wilhelmina “Jean” Rivers, for her positive and caring attitude, and for instilling a strong work ethic and commitment to doing her best. Though both of her parents passed away many years ago, their legacy lives on through her work and her family connections — not just her husband and children but her siblings.

“When we’re all together, it’s heaven on earth,” she said. “We have incredible fellowship. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real.”

INSPIRING EXCELLENCE
Her childhood passion — and her talent for innovation — continue in her life’s work. In addition to her time in the classroom, Solomon gets excited about students who want to learn and do their jobs well.

“I enjoy inspiring the desire for excellence, saying something to motivate or inspire someone to be excellent at what they do — not to be perfect but to do it with their whole heart and with integrity,” she said, “And to do it the way they would want it done to them because, at any given point, any of us could be the patient in the bed.”

At the same time, it’s been fulfilling to watch her fellow employees succeed in achieving their goals.

“Some of the first people enrolled in the program had lots of fears about going ‘back to school,’” she said. “It’s wonderful to see how proud they are when they put on their first uniform.”

While Solomon appreciates the PATH program for what it offers her colleagues, she wants those who participate — both the graduates and those who supervise them — to appreciate it as well.

“PATH is not something that most hospitals offer their employees,” she said, pointing out that it’s not something Beaufort Memorial “has to do.”

“It’s something the hospital is willing to do to invest in its workforce,” Solomon said. “So when people recognize that as a gift and appreciate it, that means a lot to me.”

One early measure of the program’s success is what she hears from those supervising PATH graduates. “It’s one thing if I say they’re successful,” she said. “But if others can see the program is working, that’s especially rewarding.”

Among those with high praise for PATH is hospital CEO Russell Baxley.

“Joy and her team have developed a program to promote opportunities for BMH staff by supporting their career goals and furthering their education,” said Baxley, pointing out that PATH has also been successful in getting much-needed healthcare positions filled by existing hospital staff.

“Great things are happening because of PATH. Great things are happening because of Joy’s leadership and innovation,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the work she has done.”

For that reason and others, Solomon knows she’s in the right place, both here in the Lowcountry and at Beaufort Memorial.

“I believe in what I do,” she said. “And I believe my grass is green because I’m going to water it. I believe this is a great place to be.”