Internship Program Promotes Workforce Development for Lima

posted on: 6/16/2016 8:16:05 AM

The U.S. healthcare system continues to face growing challenges. The population is aging at a rapid rate, health care reform is expected to bring millions more patients into the system, and there are anticipated shortages in numbers of trained healthcare professionals. Lima is no different. Therefore, workforce development in Lima and in the healthcare industry in particular is critical to our community. 

To help bridge this gap, Lima Memorial Health System has developed an intern program, exposing career-minded undergraduate students to all facets of the hospital, including Performance Improvement, Heart and Vascular, Marketing, Radiology, Information Technology, Finance and Emergency Medicine. The intern program is designed to introduce the college students, with majors including Healthcare and Business Administration, Health Sciences, Information Technology, Accounting and Business Analytics, to various healthcare and medical specialties much sooner than they traditionally might be exposed. Local high school graduates enrolled in college are being afforded valuable hands-on educational experience within the departments they are assigned. The goal is to have these local students leave Lima Memorial better prepared for leadership in what is currently America’s fastest growing industry - healthcare. The addition of this new program at Lima Memorial is also designed to have an impact on workforce development in the Lima area. Exposing the students to the great work accomplished in the healthcare field and Lima Memorial Health System will hopefully inspire these students to return to and impact our community.

"At the end of the day, we are exposing these motivated students to a behind-the-scenes look at the hospital. They will gain insight into the healthcare industry and the dynamics of working for a healthcare system," states Mike Swick, President and CEO of Lima Memorial Health System. "A quality health care workforce is not only vital to the health and well-being of the residents of the Lima community but also the future of the Lima economy.”