Laboratory School to be launched in Virginia as a result of collaboration between Emory & Henry College and eight education partners

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Virginia- Emory & Henry College and eight other schools are starting a Laboratory School. They say this will help start to solve a big problem: the lack of healthcare workers in southwest Virginia.

At a news conference Wednesday morning on the Emory & Henry campus, they talked about a program for high school students in Smyth, Wythe, and Washington Counties, as well as the city of Bristol.

Their goal is to get students ready for jobs and fill gaps in the healthcare workforce in southwest Virginia by “growing their own.”

In 2022, the General Assembly gave $100 million to help set up lab schools across the Commonwealth and help them stay open.

Emory and Henry College and its partners are among the first in our area to get a $200,000 planning grant.

“I don’t know how you couldn’t be excited about what’s going on today,” said Dr. Brian Ratliff, who is in charge of Washington County Public Schools.

Emory & Henry is in charge, but the new lab school is the work of many people.

Emory & Henry College is one of the partners. Other partners include the public school systems of Smyth County, Wythe County, Washington County, and the city of Bristol, as well as the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, the A. Linwood Holton Governor’s School, Virginia Highlands Community College, and Wytheville Community College.

Their plan is to make a high school career academy that will train students to work in health care and help southwest Virginia fill the need for health care workers.

“If we don’t invest in the pipeline now, we’ll be in terrible shape,” said Dr. Lou Fincher, Senior Vice President and Dean of the Emory & Henry College School of Health Sciences. “There are already 700 nursing jobs open in the Ballad Health System, so we need to find a way to fill them.”

SWVA-HEALS, which stands for Southwest Virginia Healthcare Excellence Academy Laboratory School, could offer a half-day program at one of three places along I-81.

Students would learn about the health care problems in the area, the different health care jobs that are available, and how to get more training, certification, and a job.

Dr. G. Wesley Poole, who is in charge of the Wythe County Public Schools, said that the regional approach makes sense.

Poole told WDBJ7, “Anytime we can give our students and kids a chance to stay in this area and fill a job need, that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

Mountain Gateway Community College and the University of Lynchburg, which are also in our area, are planning their own lab schools.

Emory & Henry and its partners plan to send in their application this summer and start the SWVA-HEALS program during the next school year.