Fishermen – Local students are contributing to hopes as Indiana's rural hospital struggles to stay open due to the expected shortage of 100,000 workers by 2028.
Indiana Governor Mike Brown warned that the future of Indiana's healthcare is in trouble.
“A hospital in the 80-90 countries is hanging from fingernails,” Brown said. “There are 5-7 very rich systems. If you're running like an unregulated utility, you need to do something to make sure you're paying attention.”
Staffing remains one of our biggest concerns.
According to the American Hospital Association, the nationwide shortage of healthcare workers will continue to grow unless changes occur.
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“We have some vacancies,” said Chief Nursing Director Kimberly Nealon. “But you know, it's healthcare. People's generation, we get jobs, we stay forever, right? It seems kids have more together than we do. They're choosing a career path and work that really meets their personal needs,” she added.
That trend appears to be fishermen participating in H-CAMPs, with 20 teens.
“The past week has helped me understand many aspects of medicine,” said Priya Singh, a senior at Hamilton Southeastern and one of the H-Camp students.
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“I've seen a lot of different things, not just listening to presentations in so many different fields of medicine, not just like hands-on experiences like The Stop the Bleed and others,” added Royals senior Addison Richmond.
For Richmond, the experience helped her narrow her focus.
“The two things I've been doing were like physical therapy or occupational therapy. After talking to the PA, it's probably my main choice right now,” she said.
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Others like Singh have discovered new possibilities.
“I've just heard a few doctors give speeches and saw their hands-on experience and I think I love the field, so now I'm really thinking about doing internal medicine,” she said.
Their paths may differ, but students share a common goal. It's about helping others.
“I feel like I'm able to overcome my difficulties and help someone in my life,” Singh said. “And I think that will be a blessing for me in the long run.”
“It was truly eye-opening to just hear how passionate these people are for their work,” Richmond added.
Neelon said the students were impressed with her.
“They have all the right answers,” she said. “Like I said, if I could hire them next week, I would.”
