A Clear Pathway

Photography by James Moore

Ozarks Healthcare program nurtures homegrown future workforce

From her first year of high school Mandy Roberts knew she wanted a career in health care. But what the 19-year-old didn’t know was that her future would present itself right in front of her.

“Sammi Radosevich came to West Plains High School right before I graduated and she was talking about the Inside Track program. That’s how heard about it,” Roberts said. “The reason I was interested is I’m going to nursing school, I sign a contract once I finish school and work for them for however many years and they will give me tuition reimbursement.”

Roberts, who graduated from West Plains High School in 2023, is one of the first students to take advantage of the Inside Track program, which Ozarks launched in January 2023. She said in addition to the financial benefit, the program also ensures she can continue her career in her hometown.

“My family is here, I’ve got friends here. I recently got married and my husband is also from here and his family is here,” she said. “I love the small town feel of West Plains and just the idea of staying in my hometown.”

Radosevich, Ozarks’ career pathways coordinator, said Roberts is a textbook example of the kind of local success story the program was designed for. 

“I think the best way to describe it is we work to educate students early in their high school lives about educational opportunities in our area and careers in health care that maybe aren’t typical careers,” she said. “We help them find a pathway to the career that they’re interested in. We want to make that connection early and continue that relationship throughout their schooling and then welcome them to come work for us.”

Across America, health care is in crisis mode when it comes to attracting medical personnel, especially nurses. Much of the situation is due to aging baby boomers retiring from health care roles in record numbers while simultaneously driving the demand for health care services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes the RN workforce is expected to grow from 3.1 million in 2021 to 3.3 million in 2031, an increase of 195,400 nurses. However, that number doesn’t include a projected 203,200 openings for RNs each year through 2031 when nurse retirements and workforce exits are factored in.

The pandemic didn’t help either, as many front-line health care workers sought other jobs due to stress and burnout. According to a 2022 Health Affairs nursing workforce analysis, 100,000 RNs dropped out of the profession between 2020 and 2021, the steepest decline in 40 years. Notably, a significant number of these departing nurses were under age 35 and most worked in hospitals.

All of this adds up to severe shortages of workers, especially in small towns which often have more difficulty recruiting people from larger communities and health systems. In an attempt to meet future workforce needs and curtail the exodus of young people many small towns face, hospitals are driving partnerships with the public school system and higher education to create programs that offer attractive incentives for prospective employees. 

Radosevich said unlike other programs which focus on a relatively narrow job segment, Ozarks’ program is applicable to all career aspirants, including career changers.

“As far as health care professionals, it’s really any medical field or any medical health care program offered through Southern Missouri Technical Institute and Missouri State-West Plains,” she said. “We also do non-degreed positions and we do business positions. We’ve lined it up where we have different tracks. We have a clinical track — nurses, phlebotomy, surgical tech — and non-degreed, such as environmental services, nutrition, registration clerks. Then, degreed positions like accounting, HR, something of that nature.”

The length of work commitment after graduation varies by track and participants can also opt for part time work while they go to school. That’s what’s landed Roberts in the pharmacy, which she values as much for the ability to familiarize herself with Ozarks culture and another aspect of health care as for the extra spending money.

“The main reason I chose pharmacy tech, I was at that program at the career center last year, I felt like that would be a good way to get my foot in the door,” she said. “Working for OZH, I would say the most impressive thing is that there are just so many different things, different opportunities that they have. I didn’t even realize they had inpatient pharmacies or that they have specialty pharmacies. It was really cool to see what each pharmacy did and how they were different.”

Radosevich currently has relationships with 10 area high schools where she gives presentations and does follow-up with students who express an interest. She’s built a database of 175 students, about 75 of which she communicates with regularly, helping them make the most of their high school experience as they move nearer to their next steps after graduation.

“A lot of those schools can do dual credit through Missouri State-West Plains and do their gen-ed classes,” she said. “They also have a high school associate program that some students do so they can graduate high school with their associate degree in hand.”

Roberts fits that category, and having her associate degree in her hip pocket will reduce the time and expense of additional college coursework. She said while there’s much more schooling ahead of her, the Ozarks program has taken a lot of the stress out of chasing her dream career.

“I plan to continue my education and at least get my bachelor’s if not my Master’s later on,” she said. “That would probably be more difficult if I didn’t have this program. I know I’ll be making decent money as a nurse but it will just be nice to not have to continue paying for school after I graduate from college.”