Physicians Regional Healthcare System stepped up for the third consecutive year to provide funding and hands-on experiential learning opportunities to support students participating in The Immokalee Foundation’s Healthcare Pathway.
The effort is part of The Immokalee Foundation’s innovative Career Pathways Program, a comprehensive educational approach that breaks new ground in preparing students for professional careers.
In addition to Healthcare, other pathways include Business Management & Entrepreneurship, Education & Human Services, and Engineering & Construction Management.
Physicians Regional generously covered the costs of the Foundation’s Healthcare Summer Camp at Florida Gulf Coast University. Beneficiaries included 42 Immokalee Foundation students, ages 13-17, interested in healthcare careers.
The Immokalee Foundation’s life-changing summer camps empower students to spend their summers learning about potential careers and engaging in career readiness, hands-on projects, career-oriented field trips and more.
This summer, the healthcare system also hosted 12 interns at its Pine Ridge and Collier Boulevard hospitals. Participating Immokalee Foundation students shadowed healthcare professionals in various specialties while participating in medical-office support activities.
“The Immokalee Foundation’s reason for being is to train Southwest Florida’s next generation of leaders,” said Noemi Y. Perez, President and CEO of The Immokalee Foundation. “Physicians Regional is serving our entire community by helping The Immokalee Foundation build a pipeline of talent to address the critical need for skilled healthcare professionals as Southwest Florida’s population continues to boom.”
Plans are in the works for a Physicians Regional-helmed Career Panel presentation in September in Immokalee, enabling Foundation middle and high school students and their parents to learn more about healthcare careers.
“As an organization responsible for providing compassionate care to a significant amount of Southwest Florida, we must always be looking forward,” says Scott Lowe, Market CEO of Physicians Regional Healthcare System. “It’s great to know that Immokalee’s best and brightest young people are positioning themselves now to be there when we need them the most.”
