By State Sen. Gerald Allen & State Rep. A.J. McCampbell
This week, we are proud to co-sponsor legislation that would approve and fund the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences in Demopolis. We encourage our colleagues to show that Alabama can be a leader in both healthcare education delivery and healthcare workforce development. It is time for us to pass this legislation.
In her 2023 State of the State Address, when Gov. Kay Ivey proposed this first-of-its-kind idea – no doubt on the heels of similar, successful schools in Huntsville, Birmingham and Mobile – we, members of the Legislature, took a measured approach. Prudently, more information about the school, how it would serve Alabama’s students, how it would be funded, and where it should be located, were a few of our questions.
Opening a school like the proposed Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences is an important decision – so important that our state spent $500,000 to study its feasibility. In that study, we wanted to know if there was interest in the school, if parents would send their children to this school, and which cities provided the best options for location, among many other things.
We are proud of the Alabama Legislature’s diligence to ensure such a large investment was a smart investment. Now that we’ve seen the results of that study, we are confident this school is needed and will provide opportunities for Alabama’s students and parents across the state. We also are confident the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences should be built in Demopolis.
It is no secret that our state must make workforce development a priority. More than five years ago, in 2018, the Alabama Legislature made a significant investment to fund the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering in Huntsville. The sole purpose of that school was to provide high class education and instruction to students interested in the fields of cyber technology, engineering, innovation, and related fields. ASCTE has been a success, so much so it has been hailed as a national model.
Now it’s time to turn our focus to one of the most important needs of our citizens: Healthcare. According to an assessment from the Alabama Statewide Area Health Education Centers, our hospitals are in desperate need of trained healthcare workers. They are in such need, in fact, that they are reducing the credentials needed to fill jobs.
We also know there are shortages in nearly every healthcare field, according to the Alabama Department of Labor. Our state needs dentists, physical and occupational therapists, registered nurses, social workers, speech and language pathologists. We also need many assistant positions, like medical and nursing assistants, physical therapy assistants, and home health and personal care aides. According to that report, Alabama has a cumulative need to fill nearly 6,000 new positions each year.
Just as we did with our cyber workforce, it is time to bridge the gap in our healthcare workforce, and we believe building the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences is the best way to make an immediate impact. The need is immense.
As co-sponsors of this legislation, we are proud to be partners in making this school a reality. Some of the brightest minds in healthcare education have built an innovative model that will prepare high school students to join the workforce, if they choose. Those students will also be ahead of the academic curve if they choose to pursue a path in higher education.
We have seen health systems from every corner of Alabama pledge their support to this project, ready to welcome students across Alabama into their facilities to learn and work.
We have seen national and state organizations generously offer to help fund this school.
And we have seen the people of Demopolis, Marengo County, and all of West Alabama sacrifice their time and resources to make certain the next generation of healthcare workers feel at home in a state-of-the-art residential high school.
Governor Ivey said it best in her State of the State Address, when she again called on the Alabama Legislature to approve this school: “Folks, let’s get this important project done.”
Governor Ivey, we are ready.
State Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, is the Vice Chairman, Finance and Taxation – Education
State Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Demopolis, is the ranking member on the Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure committee.