“We think you will love it here,” reads SOAPP’s website. The Legislature made a major investment in workforce development in 2022 with the $200 million Future Ready Oregon funding package with a considerable setaside for expanding nursing-career pathways. One area that’s seen less focus, though, is emergency services. At the moment, most emergency agencies in Oregon have open positions, according to the Oregon State Ambulance Association. “We always knew there was a demographic cliff coming, but it seems like it just happened overnight,” says Sheila Clough, CEO of Mercy Flights, the region’s largest medical transporter. “There’s a combination of things happening: We’re struggling to have enough trained paramedics and nurses. At the same time, there’s been a 20% increase in demand for services.” Emergency service is increasingly difficult to staff, Clough says. Despite a considerable training requirement, the work is low-paying in addition to high-stress. And once trained, EMTs and paramedics are difficult for agencies to keep. They commonly move to other areas or are recruited to nursing pathways by large hospital systems. With a staff of around 200, Mercy Flights responds to around 26,000 calls for service each year. Those calls break down into three types: traditional ground transport, mobile integrated care (a fast-growing service area due to the shifting health care landscape) and, as the name suggests, critical care air transports to primarily Portland-area hospitals. As of this writing, Mercy Flights has 10 open positions with staff working regular overtime hours. These days, the service sees 50% to 70% fewer applications than prior to the pandemic, and recently had to bring in contract paramedics for the first time in its 75-year history. For decades, paramedic trainees in Jackson County had to work 40-plushour weeks unpaid for at least a year while they attended classes. Many students worked a separate full-time job to pay their tuition and other life expenses. Two years in the making, the new apprentice program, which Mercy Flights oversees on behalf of several other fire-service and EMS providers, provides a living wage for a 40-hour EMS internship and full tuition to attend EMS classes at Rogue Community College. Another key aspect of the apprentice program is K-12 support to inspire the next generation to join the health care profession. The Rogue apprentice program includes a $250,000 career technical-education component to fund an Introduction to EMS class at Phoenix-Talent School District’s Phoenix High School, where students can earn four credits toward an EMT degree plus CPR certification. One large-scale education trend could help health care employers in Southern Oregon: Young people are increasingly rethinking the value of a four-year college degree. Nearly three-quarters of high school seniors polled by the Higher Education Coordinating Committee felt vocational school was a better investment of time and resources than a four-year degree. So brain drain has been less of a problem lately, Stafford says. “In Jackson County, we retain more of our young people,” she says. “For us, that creates an opportunity to train up a vocational workforce.” The Mercy Flights apprentice program has already helped Dex Dumore, 19. An honor student in high school, Dumore seriously considered attending a four-year college to study mechanical engineering. But she’s also from a health care family, and thanks to an explorer program at her high school, she knew she was drawn to the fast pace and adrenaline rush of emergency services. In the end, she decided she was more interested in getting right to work. “Not sitting in college for four years was definitely an appeal to me,” Dumore says. Dumore wrapped her first year as an apprentice in June. When she wasn’t in class or studying, she restocked medical supplies around the station and occasionally rode on calls. Next year, as an Apprentice 2, she’ll ride on more calls and prepare. In all, Dumore is one of 50 people the Rogue apprentice program will support. A similar nursing apprentice program at Rogue, funded by Providence, is currently supporting 22 nursing apprentices. Considering the scale of the health care workforce crisis, these are drop-in-the-bucket figures, to be sure. But to apprentices like Dumore, these contributions have been massive. “I’ve had a lot of extra hours because of the apprenticeship program, which has really helped me get comfortable with patient contact and whether this job is right for me or not,” she says. “It helped me really connect with our crews and get a lot of good experience and advice from people who’ve been working there a long time. And I absolutely loved it.” “We’re struggling to have enough trained paramedics and nurses. At the same time, there’s been a 20% increase in demand for services.” SHEILA CLOUGH, CEO OF MERCY FLIGHTS A Mercy Flight medical transport aircraft COURTESY OF MERCY FLIGHTS 17
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