Dave McCormick stresses need for health care workers during Ephrata visit
Pennsylvania health care leaders say the federal government should consider backing programs that link health care employers to students studying health sciences, tying school debt repayment to future jobs.
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick was in Ephrata Friday to discuss ways to solve the health care sector's staffing shortages, and heard about a private program created to grow the pipeline of health care professionals by easing their concerns about educational debt.
The Scholars Network, headquartered in New York, matches a student studying to enter a medical career with an employer who agrees to hire the student after graduation. The employer then makes monthly payments on the student's school loans.
Hospital and educational health care officials who met with McCormick at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital agreed that they are already seeing results from a private business founded in 2024.
"I think this is something really special, so I'm going to go back to Washington to certainly try to highlight this kind of program," McCormick said, suggesting that the federal government could engage in supporting the program's expansion.
Sam Maron, the network's founder, said the program is intended to reduce barriers to entry into the health care industry. Since 2024, he said the Scholars Network has helped more than 200 students studying mainly at Pennsylvania colleges and universities, and a few in other parts of the country.
Here are three takeaways from McCormick's visit Friday.
Demand outweighs resources
Health care leaders told McCormick there is not a shortage of interest in working in the health care sector, but getting the degrees and credentials needed can be too big of a financial barrier for many prospective workers.
Lebanon Valley College officials said they had more students enrolled in its physical therapist program than there were spots available through the Scholars Network - just 8 of 40 students signed contracts worth $65,000 each.
Maron estimated there are 10 times more students in the pipeline for the scholarship program than there are positions available because of limited resources.
In addition to money contributed by the health care employers, state tax dollars have been leveraged to make the employees' student debt payments. Maron said the funding pot has reached upward of $80 million, with employers giving roughly $50 million.
Lesley Espinosa-Bernal, a first-generation college student and registered nurse who is participating in the program through WellSpan, called the financial aid a "light in my tunnel."
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"I was so grateful of being a recipient of that program and being able to focus on learning how to become a nurse, an actual nurse at the bedside, and not having to worry about if I'll be able to pay these loans," said Espinosa-Bernal, who graduated last December from Alvernia University in Reading.
Rural need
Jenn Orbin, associate vice president of system innovation and nursing operations at Bradford County-based Guthrie Clinic, said she's often worried about covering all of the shifts at her rural health care facility because of staffing shortages.
A dedicated pipeline of students, Orbin said, can help leaders be more "proactive" instead of "reactive."
McCormick said he plans to share more about the Scholars Network with Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in hopes of ensuring federal funds recently dedicated to rural health care can support the program. He said he worries about the closing of rural hospitals in Pennsylvania in recent years.
President Donald Trump's administration created a $50 billion pot of funding last year to support rural health care across the country. Pennsylvania will receive $193 million through the program.
Aging population
Pennsylvania's growing population of seniors will contribute to an even greater need for health care services.
Patty Donley, senior vice president and chief nursing executive at WellSpan Health, said the Baby Boomer generation is increasingly relying on more medical services as staffing levels in the state are not keeping up. As they grow older, she noted, Baby Boomers are also retiring and leaving a hole in industries across the board, including health care.
Donley said the Scholars Network offers an "essential" pipeline strategy to ensure health care facilities are properly staffed to take care of their patients.
"Being able to support team members early on, proactively, at the start of their education is an absolute investment we're willing to make to assure that we're doing everything we can to make sure the Commonwealth has enough healthcare workers within our healthcare systems to care for what we see as an aging population that will be larger than we've ever experienced," Donley said.
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