Hooking high school students onto the path of a health care job will be part of the local effort to supply a stable medical workforce in International Falls and the surrounding area.
The conclusion came during a health care summit that took place in the Falls Wednesday. Rainy River Community College leaders, city officials and health care industry representatives from the region discussed ways in which the college could help supply a health care workforce that meets local demands — and what those demands are, especially with an aging population that relies on local health care.
“Everywhere I go across northern Minnesota, it’s the same thing — we need the local students to get trained here because they stay here,” said RRCC interim provost Ken Simberg at the event. “So we need to think about how can we get to those 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, and talk to them about opportunities to learn and work here, and make a good living and have a job well worth doing.”
The idea of growing local talent by reaching high school students was introduced by Jenny Loughrey, registered nurse at LakeWood Health Center in Baudette. She shared with the group that LakeWood has a partnership with RRCC in offering nurse training classes in Baudette through interactive television — which helps keep professionals in the local workforce.
“We have people that want to live in Baudette,” she said at the meeting. “Not necessarily people that want to move there — that’s our issue. So we want to grow our own talent.”
She suggested that getting to the students as early as 10th grade would allow local professionals to educate them about the variety of health care jobs, assist them in getting jobs early on that will train them for the field, and provide them with financial assistance options like scholarships.
The discussion was based on the increasingly high demand of health care professionals, especially in rural areas where the aging population presents a higher demand for health care services.
“This is the least surprising thing you’re going to hear today — is that we live in a very rural area, and I think that changes delivery of services and how we go about things,” Simberg said to the group. “There are some challenges in being in a rural area and where we live.”
Adam Coe, administrator for Good Samaritan Society - International Falls, said that because health care professionals can’t specialize in rural areas, they can’t capture “the cream of the reimbursement.”
“What does that do to our ability to recruit?” he asked.
The increased challenge that rural areas have in filling those jobs that the community relies on was emphasized by a statistic shared by Kimberly Perkins, chief executive officer of Littlefork Medical Center.
She said that by the year 2040, the national population of those age 65 and older will have doubled — jumping from 40 million to 80 million people.
Carol Church, RRCC director of the practical nursing program, shared that the average age of nurses in Minnesota is 46, according to the Minnesota Board of Nursing.
“What that means to us, in combination with (Perkins’) statistics, is we have an aging population here, and our health care provider population is also aging,” Church said.
Coe suggested that the community could provide scholarships designated to local students. He added that the need to fill positions becomes more challenging when some entry-level employees do not display good work ethic or are not reliable.
“We do hear this, no matter what employer we talk to,” Simberg responded. “We aim to keep expectations high of students and show them this is what the real world is going to be.” He added that he doesn’t want to make any generalizations about students, “because we certainly do have the cream of the crop — the ones that every employer wants.”
Simberg told The Journal the group will brainstorm a plan to reach high school students that “would almost make it like a marketing campaign.”
“We’re going to be making sure they know what valuable careers there are here,” Simberg said. “We want to make it very clear to the student or interested person that here’s a good path to take in getting training locally and getting a good job — high-paying, in-demand jobs.”
Shawn Mason, International Falls director of economic and community development, said she believes the meeting is the start of something that could be very productive for the community, county and neighboring counties.
“I really see Rainy River Community College really poised on the front end of this — being very proactive and being able to communicate about the opportunities of health care, by understanding what (employers’) voids are,” Mason said. “I can tell you that health care is very important to our community — it’s part of our economic vibrance.”
Others who attended the discussion include Paul Eklund, International Falls city councilor and current employee of the hospital for 22 years; Gail Rognerud, a city councilor who represents the city on the hospital board; Angel Maish, home care nurse at Good Samaritan Society - International Falls; Donita Ettestad, chief nursing officer for Rainy Lake Medical Center; Al Vogt, CEO of Cook Hospital; Kathy Boutin, clinic manager at Littlefork Medical Center; and Deanna Kittelson, human resources director at the local Good Samaritan.
