Caring About Care

When you represent an organization responsible for the public's health and physical well-being, It's important to be an active part of that community - to make your mark within your facilities and beyond.

Due to the excellent reach of Coastal Breeze News throughout Marco Island and East Naples, this column continues to be a perfect way to share our message of compassionate care with the patient population.

Care matters - on so many levels. 

To get ahead of the curve on our future staffing needs, we have an intern nurse program called the Nurse Residency Program at the hospital. New nursing graduates work alongside veteran nurses and learn from them at the bedside before receiving their own patients. 

Physicians Regional also partners with the Jersey College of Nursing; we even house the college onsite at our Collier Medical Office Building. Other educational partnerships include Florida SouthWestern State College, Rasmussen University, Hodges University, Florida Gulf Coast University, and many others.

Today, I'd like to focus on our youngest group of future healthcare leaders. Physicians Regional has proudly supported the highly motivated young people of The Immokalee Foundation for two years in a row. This exciting educational initiative doesn't just represent a win-win for these deserving students and our team, but it's also a win for our patients. 

The reason is simple: Anytime we can reach out and find bright young people who want to learn about healthcare, that's an interest we want to foster. 

And these young people are getting ready to change the world.

For almost 32 years, The Immokalee Foundation has focused on education, career readiness, and professional development to support Immokalee's best and brightest. This year alone, more than 1,300 Immokalee students - from kindergarten to postsecondary education - will benefit from Immokalee Foundation programs. 

Consider this: Almost every area employer is challenged to fill staff vacancies. Subsequently, as consumers, we've all felt the pain, too.

As seen in our investment in state-of-the-art facilities and high-caliber physicians, Physicians Regional is committed to doing whatever is necessary to maintain an unmatched level of care in Southwest Florida. Of course, as the concept of "caring" permeates our entire organization, we must do everything possible to establish a staffing pipeline for the future - a pipeline of skilled caregivers who will be there when we need them the most.

And by "we," I most certainly include myself on the list.

Joining forces with organizations like The Immokalee Foundation reassures hope that learning locally will keep students in local jobs after graduation.

The agricultural community of Immokalee is responsible for feeding (literally) Southwest Florida, yet, due to a very high poverty rate, the same people who labor in the fields to put food on our tables often find it challenging to feed their own families.

As part of this ongoing education initiative, we provide funding and hands-on experiential learning opportunities to support The Immokalee Foundation's Healthcare Pathway, part of their award-winning Career Pathways curriculum. 

Our participation is three-fold. First, we covered the costs of the Foundation's Healthcare Summer Camp at Florida Gulf Coast University. This year's beneficiaries included 35 students, ages 14-17, interested in virtually all aspects of medicine.

Thirty-five seeds planted. 

We also hosted 17 summer interns at our Pine Ridge and Collier Boulevard hospitals. Participating Immokalee Foundation students, mostly rising high school seniors, had the opportunity to shadow healthcare professionals in various specialties while participating in medical office-support activities.

Seventeen seeds start to take root.

Plus, members of the Physicians Regional team have stepped up to serve as mentors to students participating in The Immokalee Foundation's Career Pathways Program—an opportunity I highly recommend to other pro-education members of our community. 

Cultivate for growth.

If you're wondering about the quality of Immokalee Foundation high school students we've invited behind the scenes at our hospitals, please read these inspirational words spoken by intern Miranda during a recent ABC-7 Cover Story on this program. "A lot of us are struggling in Immokalee, whether it be financial burdens or different cultural backgrounds. We have a part of our culture where we survive—we actually stay strong; we persevere. Once we set our minds to it, we set a goal, and we achieve it."

Can there be any doubt of the success this young lady will experience in her future?

"Our alumni are already working throughout Southwest Florida as physicians, nurses, physical therapists, technicians and more—and we're committed to adding to the local talent pool," said Noemi Y. Perez, President and CEO of The Immokalee Foundation. "This initiative with Physicians Regional is instrumental in helping us scale our existing Healthcare Pathway Program to meet the growing demand for healthcare professionals better now and in the years ahead." 

We continue to be proud just to play our part.

To learn more about our intern opportunities or for entry level positions please visit our careers page at www.physiciansregional.com/hospital-opportunities.