S.R.H.S. Healthcare Fair Held in Pascagoula

The 13th Annual Healthcare Fair was held Tuesday in Pascagoula. The fair is organized by Singing River Health System (S.R.H.S.) and brings in students from 18 schools, representing six counties.

More than 1,500 students along the Gulf Coast packed the Jackson County Civic Center Tuesday to get hands on experience in the healthcare field. Fair organizer and Singing River Chief Nurse Officer, Heath Thompson, wants to make sure students know healthcare jobs aren’t going anywhere, in fact, they’re going to grow. Thompson says, “There’s 15 million U.S. healthcare jobs. That’s basically one out of every eight jobs is a healthcare job in the U.S. The future is bright. The prediction is we’ll need 5.6 million healthcare workers by 2020.”

Tuesday, students got to know the ins and outs of the healthcare field and learned that their options for jobs go beyond doctors and nurses. Students had the opportunity to visit over 30 booths. These booths ranged from providing information on maternal and child healthcare to the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy.

Even though some students are just now researching healthcare, one local student is already helping others. Kayleigh Seymour, a prospective nurse, says, “Well there’s this little girl at my church and she’s 5 and she was having to sit out through the games at her church because she has to give herself insulin and give herself shots, and when I saw that, it just broke my heart and I wanted to be able to see and look into and do research. I was able to build a fake, artificial pancreas so to speak and I’m going to the district science fair.”

Singing River believes students like Seymour are the next generation of healthcare professionals. S.R.H.S. intends for students to gain insight into a vast array of educational opportunities, which will hopefully help them prepare for healthcare careers.