Bloomberg Philanthropies' $250 million initiative to create healthcare-focused high schools is showing early success. HEAL High School in Houston is one of four schools wrapping up its first semester, providing students with career pathways and addressing healthcare workforce shortages.
Health care has a workforce problem. Hospitals around the country are betting on high school students to be part of the solution.In January, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched a $250 million initiative to create 10 health care-focused high schools around the country. Each high school is partnered with a nearby health system that has committed to creating job opportunities for graduates.
'America needs more healthcare workers, and we need a stronger, larger middle-class—and this is a way to help accomplish both goals,' said Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P., in a January 17 news release.Now, four of those high schools are wrapping up their first semesters. One of them—HEAL High School in Houston, Texas—has given Newsweek an inside look at its early challenges and successes.HEAL is a partnership between Aldine Independent School District and Memorial Hermann Health System, a 17-hospital system spanning Houston and Southeast Texas. Aldine currently enrolls nearly 58,000 students, more than 91 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged. That means that nine in 10 students receive free lunch, Dr. Adrian Bustillos, the district's chief transformation officer, told Newsweek.The area within Aldine's boundaries is a health care desert, according to Bustillos. Most of the district's students have had little exposure to the health care field outside of the occasional doctor's visit.But that appears to be shifting, thanks to the $31 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. On August 12, HEAL welcomed its inaugural class of approximately 150 freshmen. The school aims to reach 190 enrollees per year, amounting to 760 total students by 2028.Students from outside Aldine are also welcome to apply, though partnering with this district was intentional, Dr. David Callender, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann, told Newswee
HEALTHCARE EDUCATION WORKFORCE INITIATIVE HOUSTON
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