LIMA, Ohio-Mercy Health-St. Rita’s is actively nurturing local talent by offering a paid internship program called Rising Star to high school students. This month-long program exposes students to various career opportunities in healthcare, including surgery, pharmacy, nursing, and emergency medicine, among others.
The aim is to provide students with the connections and resources necessary to pursue careers in healthcare, ideally within Lima. Carla Thompson, a resource navigator at Mercy Health-St. Rita’s, emphasizes the importance of fostering local talent and ensuring that the hospital reflects the community it serves. The internship is a paid position, and this year, eight students from Lima City Schools and Lima Central Catholic were hired, marking the program’s third year.
