Making Fair Park a medical professions high school is a no-brainer
Shreveport is a medical hub, with over twenty-five hospitals in and around the Shreveport-Bossier area, starting with Louisiana State University Hospital, Ochsner LSU Health, Willis-Knighton Health System, along with CHRISTUS Shreveport Health Center, WK Pierremont Health Center, Shriners Hospitals for Children, and many more hospitals and clinics that are too numerous to name.
These hospitals need workers to fill the medical jobs that will exist in and around the Shreveport-Bossier corridor. One of the latest ideas or proposals is to create a full-time medical professions high school on the Fair Park campus. It would be in close proximity to area hospitals and training facilities – providing specialized instruction for Caddo Parish students interested in medical careers.
This is an idea whose time has come, and it would provide excellent opportunities for students, workforce and economic development, community involvement and revitalization of struggling communities in the city and parish. There is a great need now and in the future for a well-trained health care workforce as the population ages and with advancements in medical treatments.
With a higher skilled workforce comes higher salaries, increase in the tax base, higher standard of living, revitalization of the area and genuine hope for a better future for our students and citizens. This is a win - win for everyone.
Superintendent Lamar Goree, who has been a superb leader, and someone who knows what it means to make change, has done a good job moving the school system forward. This is a proposal that he should really look at, and give it serious consideration. It could be a game changer for this area.
He has proven in the past to be an innovative and forward-thinking leader. It is clear that his main focus lies with the students and families that make up the Caddo Parish school system, and this would be a significant continuation of his efforts to make Caddo Parish Schools 21st century incubators for the coming opportunities. This would make a lasting impact on the city, the parish, and ultimately the state.
There are a lot of people who believe that Shreveport is a great place to live and raise a family, despite some of the negative things that are occurring in the city right now, with respect to crime and blight. The citizens of Shreveport are aware of the fact that opportunities that use to exist in Shreveport, no longer exist.
The city has lost several significant employers, including General Motors, Western Electric, and the recently announced loss of Libby Glass. These are enormous losses that the city has to try to replace, and one of the most obvious ways to attract and retain new job opportunities in the city, lies in the medical fields.
The fact that the city is losing hundreds, and maybe thousands of good paying jobs, begs for some kind of master plan that can attract and keep graduates here in Shreveport. Creating a feeder school for all the upcoming job opportunities in the medical fields, would seem like a no-brainer. This proposal has been shared with numerous people in the medical field, and there is wide support from hospital administrators, medical professionals, and other stakeholders.
This will be a way to engage the entire medical community, educational system at all levels, related health fields, cyber and technology communities. One of the main components of this program is the community involvement aspect. This is bedrock Community Involvement.
There are more than 400,000 people who live in the Shreveport-Bossier Metro area, which means that there will be thousands of babies born and thousands more people to be cared for by well-trained home-grown professionals who can fill the thousands of jobs in the medical professions that will ensue over the next decade.
It is time for the policy makers and all stake holders to establish a Medical Corridor, which would be the jewel of the community, starting with the Shriners Hospital, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, LSU Health, Biomedical Reach Institute, Ochsner LSU and Willis-Knighton.
Fair Park would be an ideal place to establish this specialty high school since it was formerly where the medical magnet school was housed. The campus is uniquely located to serve as the anchor for Shreveport Medical Corridor with its close proximity to medical facilities, providing medical professionals access to the campus for instructional purposes and students the access to medical training facilities.
The campus is easily accessible from I-20 and I-49 and provides high visibility for what can be a national model for a medical professions high school. This is not a new idea, and has proven to be a successful model around the country.
One of those successes that the Fair Park High School for Medical Professions could be based on is the Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions in Houston, Texas, established in 1972, with 47 % of its students qualifying for free lunch. These are students who are routinely left out of these types of educational and job opportunities.
The school could reach into the elementary and middle schools, introducing students to opportunities in the medical field. It will offer students the opportunity for certifications and workforce readiness upon high school graduation as well as serving as a bridge to higher education and advanced degrees with innumerable career opportunities. And that’s my take. smithpren@aol.com
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Making Fair Park a medical professions high school is a no-brainer
