Cambria County students to learn about healthcare careers through Conemaugh Memorial

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center and Bishop McCort Catholic High School are teaming up to help students with their future careers before they leave high school.

On Thursday, the medical center and the high school unveiled the ‘H.E.A.L program’, which is geared towards giving students opportunities to learn about healthcare careers and get a head start on their post-secondary education.

“We are going to be teaching elective classes at Bishop McCort starting this fall that are related to health careers,” Kris O’Shea, Chief of Nursing at Conemaugh Memorial said.

The collaboration comes at a good time, as hospitals and medical facilities across the country continue to face staffing issues.

“We really need to be looking at how we’re going to position our staff for the future, and that’s really investing in those that are younger than us to say ‘here’s a possibility. It’s an incredible career. You can make a difference in people’s lives. It’s really – it’s really a calling that you can step into,” Rodney Reider, CEO of Conemaugh Health System said.

The H.E.A.L. program will be offered to AP-enrolled students in 9th through 12th grades. The classes will include Medical Terminology, Lab Sciences, Healthcare Exploration, and Healthcare Leadership. It’s perfect for students like Gianna Trexler, even though she’s about to be a 12th grader.

“I just want to join it because I just feel like helping people and like little babies just like, just helping them with their issues and making the world a better place,” Trexler said.

According to Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, the classes will be taught by Bishop McCort faculty in conjunction with the medical center’s health professionals. The program will introduce students to clinical and non-clinical professions within healthcare including physicians, nursing, radiology, laboratory, coding, emergency medicine technicians, managers, medical writers, and administrators.

Tom Smith, the principal and CAO of Bishop McCort said that he’s excited about what the program will do for the community and the students.

“I would like to see more of our students apply for medical school and some of the big-time schools across the country that have great medical programs. But in addition to that, I’d also like to see our kids come here, come to the Claremont School of Nursing, or go out and become technologists and come back here to Cornwall Hospital and work here in our community,” Smith said.

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Classes will start in the fall at Bishop McCort. The school operates on a four-day school week, and students will be able to take the fifth day and volunteer with the hospital and job shadow.

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