by Maya Quinn
Managing Editor

Thursday, March 5th, Greene County Hospital launched its career tech program for Eutaw High School students with the induction of seven students. Hospital Administrator Rodgerick Williams welcomed students, along with Chief Nursing Officer Lakisha Gill and Nicole Henley, director of nursing at the Greene County Nursing Home. The goal of the program is to prepare students for employment opportunities and address the ongoing rural healthcare crisis in the community.

Retention of students is essential to reshaping the culture of Greene County Health Systems. Each summer, students may experience a phenomenon known as “brain drain”: a lack of academic stimulation that leads to learning loss. Greene County Health Systems aims to combat that with the career tech program. Henley stated that the program aims to provide students with invaluable work experience to equip them for positions here in Greene County. Students practiced completing applications, drafting resumes, and handling other daily tasks for introductory positions across disciplines. The program’s staff and teachers are bridging a gap by ensuring that students have the necessary soft skills to be employed in college or immediately after graduation.

Lakisha Gill highlighted the importance of programs like these in preparing students for clinical and professional schools. Alongside patient care tech training, students are developing key employability skills, including communication, self-management, digital literacy, teamwork, and problem-solving. The program will partner with Wallace Community College’s LPN (licensed practical nurse) program and Workforce Alabama to procure stipends for students. “These kids need to be involved in something,” Gill stated, “we need to give back as a unit to the students here.” Upon completion of CNA (certified nursing assistant) training, students will be offered CNA positions in the Greene County Health System.

Williams is also working closely with the UAB Alabama Rural Health Collaborative to decrease rural hospital bypass, the tendency of residents to seek care beyond their closest hospital. The collaborative will help counsel the hospital to procure funds for new imaging equipment and a surgery suite. Williams asserted that these improvements are imperative to serve Greene County’s residents better. A study from the University of North Carolina’s Rural Health Research Program found that traveling beyond the local hospital for care in rural areas is associated with higher inpatient mortality rates. In emergencies such as sepsis, rural hospital bypass can lead to patients missing a critical period of care that means the difference between life and death.

Rural bypass behaviors result in a significant loss of revenue for the hospital. Revenue loss leads to a detrimental cascading effect, leaving hospitals understaffed. Understaffing means the hospital will lack key services such as critical illness care and obstetrics. Greene County Health Systems is not a for-profit institution and relies on county members to keep its doors open. Williams urges community members to use the hospital for all their care needs and not just emergencies, “to make sure that in this rural environment they can get service in their golden hour of need.”