Cassie Hall students learn about health careers at new hospital

Substitute teacher Dustin Quezada models some personal protective health care clothing.

Project Liaison Sarah Artis had the chance to teach some very enthusiastic Grade 3 and 4 students at Cassie Hall Elementary School last week about the many jobs that will be at the new Mills Memorial Hospital.

Part of the class curriculum this year is careers. As the school is located immediately next to the new Terrace hospital construction site, teacher Nancy Jay said it made sense for the kids to learn about jobs at the new facility.

Jay said the students have loved watching the hospital go up.

"The kids were super keen and had so many questions. It was really inspiring," said Sarah. "At the end of our hour together a lot of them spoke about jobs they could see themselves doing one day in the hospital."

So kids could get a sense of what it felt like to dress like some health care workers, Sarah brought an assortment of protective clothing and equipment for them to try out.

"Getting geared up was definitely the students’ favourite part of the presentation," Sarah said. "Dressed in hair nets and booties, wearing masks and gloves, a couple of them even yelled out 'This is the best day ever’."

With the hospital more than doubling in size there will be a significant increase in staff and many opportunities for people interested in careers in the health sector.

Northern Health is engaging in a variety of recruitment and retention strategies for the new Terrace hospital and the region as a whole.