Open Door Family Medical Center is honored to be named the winner of National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) “Workforce of the Future” challenge. We are deeply grateful to NACHC for this recognition of our efforts to engage with our community’s youth to motivate and encourage them to pursue a career in health care.
Future Health Care Leaders is a collaboration between the Open Door Family Medical Center’s School Based Health Centers (SBHC), now the Nita M. Lowey Center for Health in Schools, and the Ossining Union Free School District. The goal of Future Health Care Leaders is to introduce high school juniors and seniors to the broad world of health care careers.
Open Door Family Medical Center provides health care professionals as weekly guest presenters, as well as linkages with other relevant entities, including Henry Schein, Inc., an Open Door medical supplies and equipment vendor, which donates materials, such as first aid kits and blood pressure monitors, that the students learn to use.
Investment in health care workforce development strengthens the health care system and helps recruit health care professionals to work in underserved areas.
As one former participant said, “I was given the opportunity to learn about so many career options and really see the possibilities, which has led me to pursue a major in Allied Health, a pre-health care course of study.”
In the five-year history of the Future Health Care Leaders program in the Ossining Union Free School District, 125 students have completed the one-year course, providing them with experience and connections, and bolstering their passion for a career in health care.
“The commitment and vision of the Ossining school district and its educators have breathed life into this initiative, sustaining and growing the Future Health Care Leaders program. Building on the pilot begun by Open Door, this partnership continues to fulfill our original mission of engaging and informing high school students, while building their passion for careers in health care, “states Sara Hodgdon, Director, SBHC Operations, School Based Health Centers Program.
