By Mylika Scatliffe
AFRO Women’s Health Writer
Globally, the field of health care is in desperate need of workers. In the United States, health care workers are retiring, changing careers and experiencing unprecedented levels of burnout– particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the United states will see a shortage of nearly 200,000 nurses by 2031 and openings for home health and personal aides will increase by 37 percent by 2028.
The American population is aging. Patients are living longer and surviving illnesses and diseases that were once terminal. The result is an enormous strain on the medical workforce.
Now, educators, hospitals and philanthropists are joining forces to ensure the next generation can stand in the gap.
In April 2024, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Mastery Schools announced a partnership to design a high school that will prepare students for well-paying health care careers.
“There is a growing need for professionals in all areas of health care post- COVID, and there are people who are currently interested in going into those fields. It’s certainly true in a place like Philadelphia where our primary employers are educational and medical institutions,” said Dr. Saliyah Cruz, chief equity officer and program lead for the CHOP partnership.
Bloomberg Philanthropies was looking to address this concern so they formed an initiative to fund up to 10 partnerships between health care and education systems across the country. CHOP is one of those organizations.
“The idea of the partnership is that workers are needed in health care, and we want the ability to inform the education system what skills are necessary for strong health care employees. We also want those employees to have jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage and have opportunities for advancement within the health care organization,” Cruz added.
Mastery Hardy Williams High School, a Philadelphia charter school commonly known as Hardy High, will be revamped to fully integrate health care career knowledge and job-training for high school students in Philadelphia, graduating them with qualifications for high demand health care jobs at CHOP.
The program will begin in September 2025 and will serve approximately 620 students in grades 7-12. This $250 million initiative led by Bloomberg Philanthropies is the first of its kind. It will connect health care and education systems in 10 urban and rural communities across the county including Boston, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Durham, N.C., Houston, Nashville, Tenn., Demopolis, Ala. and six locations across Northeast Tennessee.
“For too long, our education system has failed to prepare students for good jobs in high-growth industries,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP, and 108th mayor of New York City. “By combining classroom learning with hands-on experience, these specialized health care high schools will prepare students for careers with opportunities for growth and advancement. America needs more health care workers, and we need a stronger, larger middle-class – and this a way to help accomplish both goals.”
The $16.9 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies into Hardy High will support the school startup costs like personnel and renovations of classrooms and labs.
Cruz told the AFRO about the pathways that will be available to students in the program.
“We will have a traditional patient facing pathway; those students will be taking course work for certified medical assistant certification,” said Cruz. “In addition, we’ll have a pathway for students to pursue courses and certification for sterile processing (preparing and sterilizing instruments for surgery), and a pathway for Information technology (IT).”
Students will meet Pennsylvania state high school requirements, regardless of their chosen pathway.
“We are not changing our core academic model or repurposing electives. These pathways will not preclude any student’s ability to attend a four-year university after graduation,” Cruz confirmed.
Cruz went on to describe the certified medical assistant (CMA) certification as the “keys to the kingdom.” The CMA is an entry level certification but opens the door to many options. The entry point for many departments within a health care system is the CMA certification. An employee can enter the system as a CMA and work and go on to college, or may decide on another area of health care like radiology or working in a lab.
This pathway is an excellent option for students who don’t wish to incur student loan debt. Students who are able to gain entry level employment with a CMA certification can take advantage of CHOP’s tuition reimbursement program to pay for a college.
CHOP is equally enthused about the partnership.
“The purpose of K-12 education in the United States is to prepare students for careers,” said Alonzo South, assistant vice president of community impact at CHOP. “A proven way to prepare students for careers is a deep partnership between industry and education.”
South emphasized how deeply integrated and committed CHOP is to its place in Philadelphia.
“We are a pediatric institution, and have a long-term commitment to the community. This initiative aligns closely with our mission,” South said.
The advantage to partnering with K-12 institutions is two-fold. Children are getting early exposure to potential career paths. They will have opportunities to job shadow and complete internships. Once it is time to explore a career, CHOP will already know them and be familiar with their work.
“Our employees are constantly asking for more opportunities to get involved in the schools. There is a tremendous amount of excitement get into the schools and partner with young people,” said South.
They are also partnering with a CHOP based organization called the Alliance of Minority Physicians. It is a group historically made up of physicians from underrepresented groups, but now has extended to all hospital staff. They will work to provide mentorship, support students around academics and host students when they are on site at the hospital. Such a partnership is invaluable to a school like Hardy High, whose student population is about 95 percent Black and Latino.
Wheaton High School, located in Wheaton, Md., is a magnet school made up of several programs to introduce students to bioscience, information technology, engineering and global studies.
Bioscience students at Wheaton High have a variety of opportunities to engage with local scholars and professionals, as described on the school’s website. Wheaton seniors are mentored by Georgetown University students throughout their senior projects while post-graduate students at the University of Maryland provide mentorship for AP biology students. They also have opportunities to hear scientists from The National Institutes of Health speak about a variety of topics on a regular basis.
Three academies make up the bioscience program at Wheaton High: the Biomedical Magnet Program, the Bioscience Academy and the Bioscience Academy. Training for health care professions are also offered via a partnership between Wheaton and Thomas Edison High School of Technology.
The first day of class they walk into a simulated crime scene.
“Our magnet program is the one where the kids are really trying to be pre-med students in college, “ said Lisa Gerhardt, academy and applications coordinator at Wheaton High.
All of the students in the bioscience program have the opportunity to take our bioscience classes. Freshman year, they take Principles of Biomedical Science which provides an overview of health care fields, forensics, DNA, how the heart works, etc. Sophomore year is more anatomy focused, where students learn about the body systems.
“That’s the year they do dissections, and all the kids just love it,” said Gerhardt.
Junior year is about biotechnology and students are running PCR tests, which is now a household word– thanks to COVID. They also talk about gene therapy, organ donation and complete an intense two-week long gene purification lab. Senior year is called biomedical innovations, where they take the three years’ previous knowledge and try to come up with innovative solutions for health care problems.
By the time students leave they have had an opportunity to experience different parts of health care and what they like and don’t like.
“The kids get the chance to decide ‘you know what–I don’t like dealing with blood and people…let me have micropipettes. Another student might say ‘this pipetting and research is really boring, and I don’t get to talk to anybody–I’d rather be a physical therapist or a radiologist, or get into forensics,’” said Gerhardt.
In the third program, students are exposed to the clinical aspects where they learn how to take vital signs, work in phlebotomy and properly wear PPE. This can put students on track to have a certified nursing assistant certification upon graduation.
As Wheaton High School has a student body population that is 56 percent Hispanic and 26 percent Black, the program works to create diversity in the health care industry.
“We have a lot of minority and first-generation students and some of them are looking to go into fields like nursing and go to college. They’re often bilingual too– which is definitely needed today in the health care world,” Gerhardt said.
Students can leave the high school with biotechnology and research skills needed in college and lab careers. Programs like those offered by Wheaton High School via the partnership between CHOP and Mastery Schools is an exciting chapter for today’s students.
“Preparing students to pursue their dreams and achieve postsecondary success is core to everything we do at Mastery Schools,” said Dr. Joel D. Boyd, CEO of Mastery Schools. “By equipping students with the knowledge, experience, and confidence they need to enter the workforce and guaranteeing job placement with one of Philadelphia’s top ranked employers, this partnership benefits our students, families, and communities in incredibly meaningful ways for years to come.”
The announcement of this partnership represents remarkable opportunities for youth in West and Southwest Philadelphia.
“Bloomberg’s big vision is that the model in Philadelphia can be replicated and potentially brought to cities like Baltimore because there are so many similarities between our cities,” said South. “We’re both blue collar cities: strong union towns, lots of hospitals, urban environments. If we can make it work in Philadelphia, how can we make it work in Baltimore and cities like it? That is the bigger vision for Bloomberg Philanthropies.”
