Singing River Academy celebrate graduates

Dozens of new healthcare workers are entering the workforce after graduating from the Singing River Healthcare Academy Thursday.

The academy recognizes apprentices who completed training in several high-demand healthcare fields, including surgical technology, nursing assistance, medical assisting, phlebotomy, pharmacy technology, and inpatient coding.

Program leaders say anyone with a high school diploma can apply, making the program accessible to people of all ages and career backgrounds. Inpatient Coding Apprentice Kaitlyn Parrish said, “This program offers a different pathway for people that maybe cannot afford college, and it gives them a stepway to maybe growing in the career that they’re already in as well. Yeah, once I graduate, they also offer us a two-year contract with Singing River, so we have that job guaranteed with them. So, I’m excited to have that already in place, and they help us find the job.”

House Appropriations Chairman John Read said, “What it has done is given hope to a lot of young people who didn’t know they had hope. They can go to school.”

Program officials say they look forward to seeing this grow in years to come.