Last summer, Chester County Hospital began a partnership with a local nonprofit called the Young Men and Women in Charge (YMWIC) Foundation. The alliance is meant to erect bridges between the two organizations.
Founded in 1998 by Richard Roberts III, YMWIC was initially dedicated to growing the number of black and Hispanic men who enrolled in a four-year college or university and majored in a science, technology, engineering, math or law (STEM/L) discipline. It accomplished this through a robust menu of academic, mentoring, tutoring and financial assistance programs.
In 2014, YMWIC expanded its mission to include women of color, too. Today, it serves any interested fifth through twelfth grade student in Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties who's economically disadvantaged and/or historically underrepresented.
At the start of the year, eight members of the hospital's staff helped 40 YMWIC students, or scholars, as they're called, develop their PowerPoint presentations for the Foundation's Annual Science Expo in March, which was held virtually. Ten hospital employees also participated in a virtual job shadowing program, where 19 scholars connected weekly via Zoom for three months to learn about the various roles in a healthcare organization. The hospital is also providing ongoing partnership and support by joining in keynote presentations on COVID and mental health. President and CEO, Michael Duncan, was also featured as the Foundation's keynote speaker at their annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet.
The hospital runs a well-established Allied Health Science Program that allows unique access to integral positions across the hospital for local high school seniors, though the new alliance with YMWIC will be focused on local students who are traditionally underrepresented in such programs.
One of our goals with this partnership is to help create a pipeline for young students in Chester County, especially those of color," says Rhonda West-Haynes, MHA, BSN, RHIA, CCDS, CCS, CPC, the Director of Revenue Operations at Chester County Hospital. She's also overseeing the partnership on behalf of the hospital. "Many kids only think of doctors and nurses when they think of hospitals, but there are all kinds of career opportunities within a health system, and there are shortages in certain disciplines. We want to help expose the scholars to those roles. But, above all, we want to support their budding interest in the health sciences."
West-Haynes knows firsthand the value of such support. Her oldest son was a YMWIC scholar from 2012 to 2015. Rhonda's younger son, who's a high school sophomore, is currently a scholar. Her oldest son is in his final semester of graduate school, where he's studying electrical engineering.
Through YMWIC, Rhonda's elder son was able to nurture his deep interest in robotics. Even more, he was able to hone other valuable qualities that came a little less naturally to him, like organization and public speaking. He also met black engineers and other professionals, which helped make his dream feel all the more tangible.
"Before Young Men and Women in Charge, we didn't know anyone who was an engineer," West-Haynes says. "It was good for him, and me, to see other men of color who are professionals in our community."
Correcting an Imbalance
While much of the attention over the last year has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, another potentially devastating storm has been looming on the horizon for years. By 2030, 20 percent of the United States population will be 65 or older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is projecting a shortfall of nearly 105,000 doctors by the same point. That junction is even more concerning than it first appears because seniors make twice as many visits to the doctor as those under 65.
"This makes the projected shortage especially troubling, since, as patients get older, they need two to three times as many services, mostly in specialty care, which is where the shortages are particularly severe," said former AAMC CEO and President Darrell G. Kirch, MD, in 2017.
With the recent renewed focus on racial equality in America and, specifically, systemic racism, it's important to note that there is some evidence that, amid this growing need, the healthcare workforce is diversifying, but not necessarily in meaningful ways, according to a 2020 study that was published in Health Professions Education, a peer-review journal.
The "overall health workforce is slightly more diverse than the overall U.S. population," the study's authors write. "However, close evaluation of occupational data reveal that the majority of people of color in healthcare jobs remain in entry-level and often lower paying jobs with little opportunity for advancement, such as aides, assistants and technicians."
A separate report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that all professionals of color, except Asians, are underrepresented in occupations involved in diagnosing and treating patients.
Some inroads have been made toward correcting that imbalance, though. The Health Professions Education study's authors said the most promising among them "tended to be comprehensive programs that include a combination of social support, academic support and financial support."
Eager to Engage
In the vein of drawing awareness to some of the lesser-known roles in healthcare, West-Haynes says the hospital is developing a short video for the scholars that will highlight those positions. Plans are also in the works to evolve the shadowing program into a series of internships this summer.
Meanwhile, involvement in YMWIC is growing organically across the hospital. At Christmas, staff in the Radiology Department "adopted" two families through the foundation and bought the parents and children gifts from their wish lists, as well as groceries. The hospital's social workers made a presentation to scholars in February that underlines the importance of mental health compassion.
And the hospital was recently awarded $1,000 through the Penn Medicine CAREs Grant Program, which provides funding to help support community initiatives throughout the health system's geographic footprint. YMWIC requires its scholars to wear dress shoes, khakis, a button-down shirt and a blazer for its programs. The grant will be used to outfit 10 scholars, says Jackie Felicetti, the Chief Human Resources Officer for Chester County Hospital, who applied for the grant.
"If we can get more people interested in a variety of healthcare roles and improve diversity in our workforce, it's a win for everyone," says Felicetti. "I'm confident we'll be successful because we have the most competent professionals here to help us achieve those goals."