Gardner-Webb Program Looks To Fill Urgent Healthcare Gaps in Cleveland County

A new summer program at Gardner-Webb University aims to fix medical staff shortages in Cleveland County. The $290,408 grant from Golden LEAF Foundation backs this push to train future healthcare workers.

Rising high school juniors and seniors now get hands-on medical training in this unique program. The county needs more medical staff badly: it's marked as both short on health workers and lacking in medical services.

"We hope this bridge program will keep them here in Cleveland County," said Jessica Ivey, associate professor at Gardner-Webb, per Spectrum News. "That's where the need is, so we want these students to stay here and go on to be a health care professional here."

Students practice surgery skills and learn about different medical jobs. Two local teens from Kings Mountain High School, Tristan Ballard and Caroline Sparrow, joined the first class.

"Being here shows you a lot of options," Ballard said. Sparrow added, "Pushes me to want to do more."

The school wants to train young medical workers who will stay in rural areas. Assistant professor Angel Queen points out that they need staff across many medical fields.

"Being in a rural community, we need different providers in different areas and specialties," Queen said. "It's so important we foster these young students and expose them to all the different avenues they can do, so we can feed back into our own community."

Golden LEAF's support extends beyond the university walls. They gave more money to local schools, bringing the total investment in medical training to $1.2 million.

Students work with medical tools and practice real-world scenarios. This hands-on work shows them what it's like to be nurses, surgeons, and other medical staff.

By starting with high school students, Gardner-Webb hopes to spark interest early. The goal? Keep skilled medical workers right here at home where they're needed most.