2nd Year Respiratory Therapy Extern Intern
About the job
- Currently enrolled in an accredited or approved Respiratory Therapy program.
- Hold Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers certification issued by the American Heart Association.
- Wisconsin externs must transition into a graduate respiratory therapist position immediately.
- Illinois externs may not remain externs for more than three years from enrollment in an approved program.
- Be able to walk, stand, squat, reach above the shoulders, and sit throughout the workday.
- Be able to perform repetitive hand use, including simple grasping, pushing/pulling, and fine manipulation.
- Be able to lift up to 50 pounds from floor to waist, lift up to 20 pounds overhead, carry up to 40 pounds a reasonable distance, push/pull with 30 pounds of force, and perform a sliding transfer of 150 pounds with a second person present.
- Have functional speech, vision, and hearing.
- Wear personal protective equipment as necessary when exposed to chemical and radiation hazards, blood, or body fluids.
- Under the observation of a licensed respiratory therapist, perform routine and basic respiratory therapy procedures, including oxygen therapy, pulse oximetry, aerosol therapy, and incentive spirometry.
- Organize and maintain respiratory therapy equipment and supplies according to department-specific standards.
- Collect equipment from hospital areas, clean and reassemble it according to procedure and standard precautions, and process disposable and non-disposable equipment according to infection prevention guidelines.
- Complete annual hospital competencies and learn new equipment, supplies, procedures, and processes as needed for the job.
- Perform patient positioning and transporting duties, including lifting and pushing/pulling, using proper technique when applicable.
- Provide care appropriate to patients' ages by applying knowledge of growth and development across the life span, assessing patient-status data, interpreting information to identify age-specific needs, and providing care in accordance with departmental policies and procedures.
- Operate all equipment necessary to perform the job.
About the company
Atrium Health is a nonprofit health system with over 1,400 care locations and 40 hospitals across the southeastern United States. It provides a full range of medical services, from primary care to specialized treatments like rehabilitation and cancer care, and uses the MyAtriumHealth digital portal for scheduling and payments. The system combines hospital and home-based care (including hospital-level services through Atrium Health Levine Children’s) to expand access beyond traditional facilities. Its goal is to deliver accessible, comprehensive healthcare across its regions by coordinating care across a large network and supporting patients with digital tools and employee-focused benefits.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$31.6M
Headquarters
Charlotte, North Carolina
Founded
1940
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Wake County approved the WakeMed deal on September 21, 2026.
- Atrium committed $2 billion and $150 million for Wake County health programs.
- The Morehouse teaching hospital won approval August 21, 2026, expanding Atlanta access.
What critics are saying
- FTC and North Carolina Attorney General can still block WakeMed integration in 2026.
- Price-cap sunsets after five years, inviting backlash over Atrium’s higher negotiated rates.
- Failure on WakeMed turns Atrium into the South’s premier target for antitrust scrutiny.
What makes Atrium Health unique
- Advocate Health’s academic core links Atrium with Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
- Atrium spans 69 hospitals and 1,000-plus care sites across eight states.
- Levine, Sanger, and virtual care create a vertically integrated referral engine.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Life Insurance
Flexible Work Hours
Paid Vacation
401(k) Company Match
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
28%1 year growth
28%2 year growth
28%Treasurer Briner sues to block Atrium plan to retain health-plan customers. 10/09/2026 State Treasurer Brad Briner has gone to court to block Atrium Health's move to reduce the upfront costs that N.C. State Health Plan members pay before using services at the biggest N.C. hospital system. The lawsuit filed Friday in Wake County Superior Court seeks an injunction that would block Atrium from advertising its "Affordability Protection Program" and a judgment declaring it void under state law. Atrium has "single-handedly threatened the stability and long-term viability of the [State Health] Plan - and the healthcare coverage of 750,000 North Carolinians," the complaint says. "State law assigns the treasurer, and the treasurer alone, the duty to set the [State Health Plan] copays, deductibles and coinsurance amounts," Briner wrote in a release. "Atrium has never been given this authority, yet it believes it can change these amounts simply by posting new ones on its website. That's not how it works." Atrium officials say they're "reviewing the legal filing." "We strongly disagree with the characterization that this program was intended to harm the financial stability of the State Health Plan," according to a release. "Our focus has always been, and remains, serving patients and making care more affordable for North Carolina's public servants and their families." The dispute concerns the State Health Plan's pending attempts to steer members, via lower co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket limits, to a set of "preferred providers" that are offering lowest-cost service. That tier includes Chapel Hill-based UNC Health and Novant Health, which competes with Atrium in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, and is the state's second-largest system. Atrium's hospitals and clinics in those cities are "non-preferred," which means members will have to pay more their own money to use them, in many instances. That could be unpopular in Charlotte, where Atrium has long controlled about half of the the care market. Novant had a 35% share there in 2023, Fitch Ratings says. In Winston-Salem, Novant is the market leader with a 47% share. Novant was formed through a merger of the Forsyth Memorial Hospital system and Charlotte's Presbyterian hospital group. Briner says Atrium is dangling lower co-pays as a loss-leader, eating the cost in the expectation of getting back the revenue as plan members receive expensive procedures and services. The plan would be on the hook for paying for those. The lawsuit - crafted with help from a team of lawyers from the Raleigh office of the Nelson Mullins law firm - stresses that the State Health Plan has slowly been moving toward insolvency and needs to contain costs. When Briner took office in 2025, plan managers estimated that it faced a $500 million deficit in 2026 and $1 billion in 2027, the suit says. They've managed to reduce the losses this year by increasing member premiums and making structural changes to benefits, but estimates still project "a strong likelihood of a negative operating balance as of January 2027," it says. Plan members "were not aware of provider cost differences, and were not incentivized to seek out a lower-cost provider," it says. The suit contends that Atrium is undermining the statutory ability of the treasurer's office and State Health Plan trustees to structure benefits. It also alleges that Atrium is violating the state's law against unfair and deceptive trade practices. Along with the court action, the plan is extending the open-enrollment period for 2027 health benefits for state employees and teachers to Nov. 6. Enrollment opens Monday and was previously set to run through Oct. 30. The extensions gives members another week to sign up, along with "more time to review information about the recently announced program and understand what it could mean for their 2027 coverage and costs," Briner's aides say. Briner has also been critical of Atrium's proposed combination with WakeMed, the largest hospital operator in Wake County. The county board has approved the transaction, which Briner says will boost costs. Regulatory approval is pending. The State Health Plan is North Carolina's biggest payor of medical bills, giving it unusual influence with hospitals and insurers. Gronberg is editor of the North Carolina Tribune, a newsletter focused on the intersection of state politics and commerce. Reach him at [email protected]
NC's State Health Plan sues Atrium, saying it can't set plan members' copays. October 9, 2026 1:20 PM Gift Article Key Takeaways AI-generated summary reviewed by its newsroom. The State Health Plan and the state treasurer are suing Atrium Health after the health system launched its own program to give state employees lower out-of-pocket costs at Atrium than they would pay even at the hospitals the plan favors under its new tiered network. Atrium doesn't have the authority to set what members pay for their care, the lawsuit says - only the treasurer does. The lawsuit was filed Friday in Wake County Superior Court by the plan, the Office of the State Treasurer and Treasurer Brad Briner, a Republican. It asks the court for a temporary restraining order to stop Atrium's new program, set to launch in January 2027, while the case is sorted out. The lawsuit also asks the court to declare Atrium's program "void and against North Carolina public policy" and to rule that it "unlawfully interferes with and usurps the Treasurer's statutory authority." It seeks damages and a jury trial. Atrium on Tuesday announced an "Affordability Protection Program," stating in a news release that the program was aimed at addressing "the higher healthcare costs created for patients seeking care at Atrium Health by the NC State Health Plan's new tiered provider structure." The program, which starts Jan. 1, 2027, waives deductibles and coinsurance entirely at all Atrium locations for State Health Plan members and replaces them with a copay. Retirees 65 and older on the plan's Medicare Advantage plans are excluded. Atrium said in its release that members' cost-share at Atrium would be lower than at the plan's preferred providers, and lower than at any other health system in North Carolina. The plan says those savings come at a cost to members. "Under the guise of 'affordability' and 'patient choice,' Atrium has, on the eve of Open Enrollment, single-handedly threatened the stability and long-term viability of the Plan - and the health care coverage of 750,000 North Carolinians - by attempting to usurp and circumvent the express statutory authority delegated to the Treasurer to determine the Plan's coverage and benefits," the lawsuit says. The plan said in a news release Friday that Atrium "has never been given this authority, yet it believes it can change these amounts simply by posting new ones on its website. That's not how it works." When Briner took office in 2025, he began a series of changes. They include raising premiums for state employees, requesting more funding from the General Assembly (which funds the employer portion of premium costs) and implementing a new preferred provider system. That system has had several pieces kick in already, but its hospital provider portion takes effect in January 2027. It designates some providers as preferred, others as access (or middle-tier) providers and others as non-preferred. At non-preferred providers are where members would see the highest out-of-pocket costs. Plan officials have said the system is meant to encourage competition and lower costs by pushing members toward high-quality providers that charge the plan less, thereby improving its finances. Meanwhile, preferred providers are expected to receive more patients, and therefore, more business. Atrium was initially designated as non-preferred. Under a Sept. 14 agreement with the plan, some Atrium locations and services, including rural hospitals, were moved to the access tier, and some Atrium providers, known as OneHealth, were designated preferred. But many Atrium locations, including its urban hospitals, remain non-preferred, according to the lawsuit and Atrium. Open enrollment begins Monday and had been set to end later this month. The plan announced in its news release that it is extending it through Nov. 6, to give "members more time to review information about the recently announced program and understand what it could mean for their 2027 coverage and costs." The News & Observer reached out to Atrium Health for comment Friday but did not immediately hear back. Plummeting cash reserves. The lawsuit says the plan's cash reserves plummeted from about $1.4 billion to about $420 million between January 2020 and June 2025 as healthcare providers charged more. In 2025, the treasurer projected the plan would run a $500 million deficit in 2026, completely eliminating its then-existing cash reserves, followed by a $1 billion deficit in 2027, according to the lawsuit. The plan now projects a "strong likelihood of a negative operating balance" as of January 2027, meaning it might not have enough money to pay its bills, the lawsuit says. The new tiered system is estimated to save the plan more than $135 million in 2027. "Savings from the tiered provider system are the lynchpin for the Plan's overall strategy to correct the short and long term financial problems of the Plan. These savings would evaporate if Atrium's Protection Program is allowed to stand," says the lawsuit. The plan said in its release that Atrium will keep charging the plan its current rates, which it called "among the highest charged by major hospital systems," and that all members - including ones who go to Atrium - would ultimately pay through "significantly increased premiums and decreased benefits." The lawsuit also says Atrium's plan was "designed and implemented in bad faith," because Atrium "strategically waited until six days before the start of the Plan's Open Enrollment period" to announce it, after months of negotiations and a September agreement. Atrium told The N&O on Tuesday in an email it that it submitted multiple proposals "starting in July" to give the health plan the same discounts as preferred providers had, and that the plan rejected them each time. It said the offer remained on the table, according to Chris Berger, an Atrium spokesperson. Berger also pointed to the plan's September announcement of its agreement with Atrium, which said that before the new tiers took effect, Atrium "was no more expensive than other leading health systems in North Carolina." "However, the 2027 NC State Health Plan design - not Atrium Health's pricing - will charge members more to use Atrium Health providers and facilities," Berger said. Meanwhile, the plan says that proposal came in July - after it had already announced the preferred providers. "When you make an offer that is no better than the winning bid after the contest is over, that doesn't help, and that's what they're talking about. They made an offer in August that's not better than what we already had after the competition concluded late June," Briner told The N&O on Tuesday. State Politics October 9, 2026 10:57 AM The News & Observer Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi is a politics reporter for the News & Observer. She reports on health care, including mental health and Medicaid expansion, hurricane recovery efforts and lobbying. Luciana previously worked as a Roy W. Howard Fellow at Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative news organization.
The Duke Endowment has awarded Atrium Health $1.57 million to expand paediatric and behavioural health services. The funding will enable hospital-level care at home for approximately 160 babies and extend virtual therapy services to students at four community colleges. The grant addresses two critical healthcare needs: providing specialised care for infants in home settings and improving mental health support accessibility for college students. By bringing hospital-grade paediatric care into homes, the programme aims to reduce the burden on families whilst maintaining high-quality treatment standards. The virtual therapy expansion will help address growing mental health concerns amongst community college students, offering convenient access to professional support services.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels strengthens spiritual care at Atrium Health Levine Children's cancer & blood disorders. September 23, 2026 | By Atrium Health Foundation | In Contributor News Atrium Health Levine Children's has been awarded a $100,000 Impact Grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels(R) to enhance whole-person care for children and adolescents facing cancer. The investment will support spiritual care services that help patients, families, and care teams navigate the challenges that often accompany a cancer diagnosis. Childhood cancer affects more than a patient's physical health. Children and families may have difficult questions about identity, beliefs, relationships, and the future. Spiritual care offers a space to explore those questions, process difficult emotions, and identify sources of meaning and strength. At Atrium Health Levine Children's, spiritual care is an integral part of the multidisciplinary approach to pediatric cancer care. "Our work is rooted in the belief that whole-person care can transform lives, and spiritual care is an essential part of that commitment," said Dr. Jennifer Pope, director of supportive medicine for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Atrium Health Levine Children's. "With the support of Hyundai Hope on Wheels, we can help close a critical gap by embedding dedicated spiritual care across the cancer journey. This investment will help us better support patients, families, and care teams as they make meaning of the realities of a cancer diagnosis, process distress, and build practical strategies that foster resilience, healing, and hope." Helping deliver that care is Amanda White, a pediatric chaplain at Atrium Health Levine Children's whose position is supported by the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Impact Grant. As a member of the pediatric cancer care team, White provides individualized support that reflects each family's unique needs, values, and culture. She also serves the healthcare professionals who care for children with cancer to help them process grief and reconnect with their sense of purpose. Layla and Liana, both undergoing treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia at Atrium Health Levine Children's, joined Dr. Jennifer Pope (center) and chaplain Amanda White (right) at the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Handprint Ceremony on September 22, 2026. "We are deeply grateful to Hyundai Hope on Wheels for advancing pediatric cancer care at Levine Children's," said Helen Kernodle, senior development officer at Atrium Health Foundation. "This partnership continues to help fuel discoveries that bring us closer to better treatments, improved outcomes, and more hope for children facing cancer. Just as importantly, Hyundai is reminding families that an entire community stands beside them on their journey." Hyundai Hope on Wheels is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Since its founding in 1998, the organization has provided grants to institutions across the country supporting pediatric cancer research and care. Levine Children's has received $1.3 million in support from Hyundai Hope on Wheels. About Atrium Health Foundation Founded in 1959, Atrium Health Foundation is one of the largest charitable foundations in Charlotte. As the point of contact for all contributions benefiting Atrium Health in the Charlotte market, the Foundation inspires transformational giving to improve health, elevate hope, and advance healing - for all. Through its current Giving Hope Campaign, Atrium Health Foundation is supporting Atrium Health's efforts to create the learning health system of the future by building healthy communities, outstanding education programs, preeminent research and exemplary facilities. About Hyundai Hope on Wheels Hyundai Hope on Wheels(R) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope on Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing critical research aimed at improving treatments and saving lives. Hyundai Hope on Wheels is one of the largest nonprofit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country. Primary funding for Hyundai Hope on Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 855 U.S. dealers. In 2026, Hyundai Hope on Wheels will reach a lifetime donation total of $303 million in support of more than 1,500 childhood cancer research grants to over 175 hospitals and research institutions.
Wake commissioners vote 5-2 for Atrium-WakeMed merger. September 22, 2026 The Wake County Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 at its meeting on Monday in favor of the merger between Atrium Health and Wake Med. State Treasurer Brad Briner released a video Tuesday afternoon criticizing the deal. The commissioners voted on the Articles of Incorporation and the Transfer Agreement, but not before protestors disrupted the voting process numerous times and were then escorted out of the room. The more than five-hour meeting included nearly two hours of comments from both supporters and opponents of the merger. Those against it said that the community would lose the type of care they have come to expect from WakeMed, as well as affordability, local accountability, and transparency. Those for the merger said it was a positive step in the right direction, making the Raleigh-area hospital system stronger and helping fund much-needed renovations. County attorneys said that despite the merger, WakeMed will continue to operate as a nonprofit community general hospital. The revised agreement includes the following: * Atrium Health will invest $2 billion over the next 15 years, a change from the original agreement, in an effort to modernize and expand WakeMed's facilities, including upgrades to WakeMed's Raleigh Campus on New Bern Avenue. The revision specifies that Atrium, rather than WakeMed, will fully fund the investment. * Atrium will also pay $15 million a year over the next 10 years for the new Wake County Whole Health Program, which will focus on addressing access to affordable care, mental health, placement of foster youth in crisis, supportive housing, homelessness, food insecurity, senior healthcare, and other issues. * WakeMed will increase its minimum annual indigent-care commitment from 4.8% to 8% of adjusted revenue. * Eight of WakeMed's 14 board members will be appointed by Wake County commissioners and must reside in Wake County. The remaining six will be appointed by Atrium. * Price increases will be capped at no more than 1.5 times the annual increase in Medicare costs for the next five years. * Debt collection practices, including their reporting, will not be as stringent. * Atrium will be named as a third-party beneficiary under the Transfer Agreement. * Atrium will have the right to dismiss WakeMed's CEO. Some changes were made to the agreement last week after Democratic Gov. Josh Stein sent a letter to Atrium and WakeMed on Sept. 17, according to a press release he issued on Sunday. Commissioners who were in favor said that WakeMed needed the partnership with Atrium to support the necessary upgrades and that initiatives like the Wake County Whole Health Program would be a true benefit to the community. District 4 Commissioner Susan Evans, one of the commissioners who voted in favor of the merger, said that although she was very pleased with the agreement, she had concerns about Atrium having the right to dismiss WakeMed's CEO. "I will say that one of the things I was concerned about was understanding that Atrium would have the ability to unilaterally dismiss the WakeMed CEO, and that made me uncomfortable," she said. But after talking with numerous people, including former corporate CEOs and the county manager, she said she had to accept that the agreement made sense in this environment. The two commissioners who voted no - Tara Waters of District 5 and Vickie Adamson of District 7 - voiced their concerns about the agreement and the process. Waters said she was concerned that many could not attend the meeting to voice their concerns because of the 2pm start time and the fact that it was Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day for people of the Jewish faith, a concern that was repeated several times earlier in the meeting. "I feel like today will go down in history as a very sad day in Wake County, when we turned our taxpayer-built community hospital over to a corporate conglomerate," Adamson said. "We were initially told what the agreement was, and after having to go to the press and throw a public fit, I finally got to see it. And it was very different than what we had been told." She said she also spoke with people who said Atrium hasn't lived up to its promises. Additionally, she said she felt the process was rushed and not how the commissioners normally do business as a board, adding that she was trying to process documents she had received on Thursday. "This is all about raising prices," Adamson said. "I can't vote for it." Board Chair Don Mial, who represents District 1, said the merger would make WakeMed stronger and shape healthcare for years to come. A joint statement from Atrium and WakeMed said that over the past few months, officials spent countless hours listening to county leaders, community organizations, faith leaders, employees, care providers, and residents who wanted to understand what this combination would mean for Wake County. "Through it all, one thing was clear: people care deeply about WakeMed, its caregivers, its patients, and the future of this community," the release said. "We greatly appreciate everyone who took part in that conversation and helped make it stronger." The organizations said the vote "brings us to the next chapter of the process, and important work remains ahead... We recognize that trust is earned, and our focus now is to follow through on what we've outlined, continuing to listen to the community and demonstrating, through our actions, the value this combination will create for the people of Wake County and beyond." Gov. Josh Stein also released a statement after the vote. "Today the commission voted to approve the Atrium-WakeMed merger," he said. "I thank the commissioners for their work on patients' behalf, and I am pleased that Atrium and WakeMed agreed to my request to protect families by capping price increases at WakeMed for the next five years. Now that the commission has voted, I welcome the Attorney General's review of the proposed transaction and his office's independent assessment of it." The merger has been controversial since it was announced this past spring. Talks between the two hospital systems began in 2022, when WakeMed put out a request for proposal (RFP) looking for a partnership in oncology. According to Dr. Thad McDonald, chairman of the board for WakeMed, Atrium was the only system that replied, noting that WakeMed is "almost a mirror image" of Atrium. "In January of 2024, this concept of a combination was presented to the executive committee of the board," he said. "Our initial response as an executive committee was much the same as some of you here and members of the community: What? Give up our autonomy? We've always been fiercely proud of our independence; however, looking at the future of health care and especially the challenges facing safety net hospitals like ours, we felt it would be irresponsible not to give it vigorous due diligence." Advocate Health, the health system that includes Atrium, resulted from the merger of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health in December 2022. In May, state Treasurer Brad Briner, among others, voiced his concerns about the proposal. "There is a simple business principle that when suppliers consolidate and competition is reduced, it is the consumers who suffer," Briner said in a prepared statement. "This has been proven to be true time and again in the health care landscape, where prices continue to rise and patients are left with mounting medical debt." In his video message on Tuesday, the treasurer said he remains profoundly concerned about the deal, adding that nothing has fundamentally changed from the original proposal, and that WakeMed's CEO, Donald Gintzig, said in an interview last week he hoped costs would go up if the merger went through. Briner also said it will make it harder for Stein's Health Care Affordability Commission, of which he is co-chair, to be successful, and it will make it even harder to keep the State Health Plan and other employer plans solvent. He is calling for North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, along with federal regulators, to conduct a thorough assessment of prices, competition, and access, and that it isn't too late to back away from the deal. Tom Friedman, executive administrator of the State Health Plan (SHP), said at SHP board meeting in June that Atrium is anywhere from 15-40% more expensive in aggregate than WakeMed, and if WakeMed were to apply those rates based on State Health Plan utilization, it would be on average between $7-$11 more per member per month. The merger still needs approval from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice before it can be completed. Topics on this page.