CEO column: consider a career in healthcare
For Work That’s Challenging, Exciting, and Inspiring, Consider a Career in Healthcare
Spring is in the air and after a fall marked by Hurricane Helene’s devastation and a long winter, most people are ready to get outside and enjoy the warmer temperatures and blooming gardens and hiking trails. This is also the time of year when we look forward to graduation ceremonies, whether they’re for a preschool class moving up to kindergarten or a group graduating from college and beginning their adult lives.
One area where students and future professionals are urgently needed is in healthcare. According to the American Hospital Association, there’s going to be a shortage of approximately 100,000 critical healthcare workers (those who care for seriously ill patients) by 2028 — just three short years from now.
The AHA also notes that the Nurse Assistant shortage has the potential to be severe, while an October, 2024 report published by the Department of Health and Human Services’ stated that even though 94% of the estimated demand for physician services will be satisfied in metropolitan areas in 2036, only 44% of the estimated demand will be satisfied in non-metro regions. This means that rural healthcare facilities will be especially deprived.
I want to send the message to readers — whether you’re a high school student thinking of all the career possibilities before you, a mid-career professional who’s seeking a new challenge or arena to work in, or someone who falls somewhere in between those scenarios: A career in healthcare offers you endless rewarding possibilities, the choice to work directly with patients or in area where different expertise is needed, and more.
In my September column, I focused on how HCA Healthcare and Mission Hospital McDowell help people considering nursing careers get started. Programs we’re involved with include the New to Nursing program, which helps students realize the goal of attaining a Bachelor’s in Nursing or an Associate Degree in Nursing, and a program that allows licensed and practical nurses to earn their RN (Registered Nurse) degrees. We also partner with Mission Health to prepare students to become Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) at a paid-to-learn program at Mission Hospital in Asheville. Once their CNA certification is earned, they can work anywhere in the Mission Health system.
At HCA, all full-time and part-time employees also have access to a tuition assistance and student loan assistance, which supports career growth, and our facilities support a culture of continuous growth and learning.
In addition to training to be a physician or a nurse, however, the need for midlevel practitioners also exists. These needed providers are vital members of our healthcare teams and include Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs). There are opportunities to serve in many other clinical capacities tool, like physical, speech, and occupational therapy, anesthesia, and medical imaging — as well as many others.
As I noted, there are many other wonderful opportunities to make a difference by working in healthcare that don’t involve direct patient care. Plant operation experts, Environmental Services team members, Nutrition Services staff, administrators like nurse managers, financial managers, and human resources managers, patient access (Registration) professionals, and others are all needed.
It’s also important to remember that the diverse employment opportunities in the field of healthcare — and at Mission Hospital McDowell specifically — exist not just in our hospitals, but at all our satellite locations too. These include our urgent care centers and physicians’ practices.
Additionally, there are abundant opportunities in non-clinical office settings as well, and even remote work-from-home positions.
Fortunately, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the breadth of positions available at healthcare facilities. You can match your aptitudes and experience to diverse opportunities, and even those who don’t wish to pursue clinical work can find work that is fulfilling, challenging, and uniquely gratifying in the halls of a hospital or other healthcare setting.
I can promise you this — if you work in a healthcare facility, you’ll never find a more dedicated and caring group of coworkers. It’s true here at Mission Hospital McDowell (MHM) and in all other respected facilities — the top priorities are our patients and each other.
Unmatched patient care cannot happen without colleagues who respect each person’s unique expertise and talents and who work in concert with each other. These are the elements of seamless care.
Every day, our Mission Hospital McDowell team excels at delivering the highest level of care with compassion, creativity, and grace. We are a place where opportunities abound, and where team members — no matter what their areas of expertise are — can make a lasting impact and grow their careers.
Lee Higginbotham is Chief Executive Officer of Mission Hospital McDowell in Marion. He is an accomplished healthcare leader with nearly three decades of diverse experience in healthcare. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia, Higginbotham earned his Master of Health Care Administration (MHA) from The Medical College of Virginia and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He resides in Marion. Lee is most proud to be a husband to his best friend and father of three remarkable children.