Alex Jent: From Tragedy to Living a Dream

Kids play. Tires screech. Lives are altered. A dream is fulfilled. Alex Jent, Food Services, experienced all these things—the first three in 1991, the last this past year. The space between the connection points is where the story lies.

Jent recounted it was a normal day playing with his friends.

“I don't remember, but my mom said I was playing with two kids my age, 6 years old, and we had this little toy suction cup gun. There were two older kids on the other side of the street that were teasing us. My friends shot the suction cup thing across the street and dared me to go get it.

As I did, I was struck by a car driven by an elderly woman who couldn’t stop in time. Thankfully, a neighbor was sitting on his front porch, saw it happen and called 911.”

Jent was airlifted to Cincinnati Children’s with a traumatic brain injury.

“There was a blood clot in what's called the basal ganglia, which controls your motor skills. This is like having a stroke,” Jent said. “I hit my head really hard after being struck by the car. They told my mom and dad there was an 80-percent chance I wouldn't survive through the night because of internal bleeding in my head.”

He was in a coma for almost a month, wheelchair-bound for six years, and in therapy for 13 years. He had to learn how to walk and talk again.

“I'm just unbelievably lucky to be here, and it's all because of Cincinnati Children’s,” he says. “This hospital was amazing.”

And so began a lifelong desire to give back to the place that meant so much to him, that gave him back his life.

After graduating from Oak Hills High School and attending some classes at the University of Cincinnati, Jent worked at University Hospital for five years as a patient care assistant. That time was also significant because he met his wife, a nurse, at University Hospital.

He later joined Mercy Health—West Hospital in 2017 in their Nutrition department where he won several awards for customer service excellence. During both of those stops, he still had his eye on his dream—to work at Cincinnati Children’s.

“I've always had a love for this hospital. I just wanted to give back in the way that I was helped,” said Jent.

Finding the “Right” Person

In a previous job, Teresa Ingram, manager, Food Services, had a food services ambassador. The ambassador is the face of Food Services, somebody patients and families contact. It’s part of providing a positive patient experience.

“We didn't have anything like that at Cincinnati Children's in the 5 years I’ve been here. All this time, I'd been searching for the right person because it had to be the right one,” said Ingram. “I put the idea on the backburner until I heard about Alex. He had applied for a tray-passing position. My colleague James Jackson in Food Services interviewed Alex. He sent me a text that said, ‘I found him.’”

After talking to Jent herself, Ingram knew she had indeed found “the right one.”

“He has so much energy, it's just remarkable. He has a commitment to making things better,” she said.

John Pramuk, general manager, Food Services, agrees with Ingram.

“Food service is an opportunity to provide a great patient experience because eating a meal is something that kids and parents look forward to. It's where we actually give them some control in an environment in which they have no control,” said Pramuk. “Alex leads the charge for us. He’s so humble and compassionate, you can't make it up. He's so sincere.”

Pramuk believes Jent is successful because of how he makes people feel.

“He connects with patients very quickly. He makes you feel like you're the most important person and that he has nothing else to do but take care of you,” he explained.

A Day in the Life

Jent outlined what a typical day is like for him.

“When I first get here, I go to Epic for a list of new admissions along with any food restrictions, a list of who who's in isolation, and I make notes of their diet orders and whatnot.

“I walk into the room and say, ‘Hello, my name is Alex. How has everything been so far? Is there anything we can do to make things better?’”

He leaves behind a business card that has a phone number on it. He carries his cell phone with him everywhere and answers calls from patients and families to help make their stay more positive.

Life Away from Work

Despite the years of treatment, Jent walks with a limp and cannot extend his left arm. But these things do not slow him down.

“I live independently. I'm married. I have a beautiful house. I drive. I do everything on my own,” he said. “Kids ask about my injury sometimes. I tell them I was hit by a car as a little kid, but here I am. I'm making the best of it. I had a tough time. I hope to be some inspiration for them.”

What keeps him going every day in his job, walking mile after mile, as he traverses our halls?

“I now have the chance to talk to kids and families about how things are going. I like to ask them, ‘How can we improve your stay?’ It's a privilege for me to come here every day. It really is a beautiful campus, a beautiful hospital with amazing doctors. I'm blessed to be here.”