Roane State, partners help meet the need for healthcare workers | Chris Whaley

It’s strange to look back on the challenges of the last two years and see how much things have changed.

In March of 2020, we were preparing for the unknown. Roane State shifted almost completely online at the start of the pandemic, while working to provide an even higher level of support for our students.

For the first few months, we were expecting to see some sort of resolution, some official end to what had become a life-altering experience for all of us.

Today, we are still facing unique challenges brought on by the pandemic. Because of this sustained state of emergency, our healthcare workers are facing levels of stress and burnout like never before.

These experiences have made the importance of a well-trained healthcare workforce clear. Our mission has never been more critical. Roane State is molding the healthcare heroes of tomorrow, the ones who will continue this fight to save lives and provide care when it’s needed most.

I’m proud to say that Roane State is well-known for achieving a high level of academic excellence in its health science programs. As workforce needs increase for fields like nursing, respiratory care and emergency medicine, we must ask ourselves what else we can do to meet those needs. How can we continue to make a difference in the lives of our students and communities?

We are pleased to be partnering with Covenant Health and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Knoxville to bring a new healthcare training facility to East Tennessee.

Currently planned near Parkwest Medical Center, at least 11,000 square feet of the full 130,000-square-foot facility will be devoted to a comprehensive simulation center. This center will allow students to experience what they will be doing after graduation when they are working in clinics, hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Expanding to meet local needs in health science careers is a top priority for Roane State. With the help of our partners at Covenant Health and multiple others we’ve engaged as part of this effort, we can increase the number of students accepted into our nationally accredited programs, add new specialized courses and provide a one-of-a-kind educational experience that prepares students for the real world. We thank Gov. Bill Lee for prioritizing this effort in his latest budget request (currently being reviewed by the General Assembly), and look forward to working on final funding for this important project.

The new training center is just one of the ways we hope to graduate new generations of qualified healthcare workers. I’m also reminded of the steps we are taking right now to help relieve some of the stress on our local healthcare heroes.

Last fall, our massage therapy students organized a special event that gave a much-deserved break to frontline healthcare providers at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. Roane State’s nursing clinical students were on hand at the hospital to support the professional nurses, respiratory therapists and others on staff so they could rest and get brief chair massages. Joining our massage therapy students in providing this service were program alumni and other licensed massage therapists who volunteered their time. It was truly a wonderful event and we were happy to be able to assist our frontline workers.

In closing, I want to ask all of you to consider what you can do each day to lead us into a better tomorrow. We encourage our students, faculty and staff to strive for excellence in all they do, no matter how big or small their actions may be. Taking that extra effort can make all the difference.

Chris Whaley is a current member of the Leadership Knoxville Class of 2022. He is the President of Roane State Community College. This column is provided by Leadership Knoxville, which works to build a stronger Knoxville by developing people and groups, leading to a greater community and region. Its programs include Leadership Knoxville, Introduction Knoxville, LK Scholars, Youth Leadership Knoxville, Connect Knox and facilitation services. Whaley can be reached at WhaleyCL@roanestate.edu.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Roane State, partners help meet the need for healthcare workers