Houlton Rotary learns about Aroostook survivor camp

    HOULTON — Houlton Rotarians recently leaned about Survivor Aroostook when Janene Stewart, Healthcare Recruiter for Houlton Regional Hospital, Mary Berube, Human Resource Manager at the Aroostook Medical Center, and Ben Ward, student at Houlton High School visited the club.  Survivor Aroostook is a healthcare career exploration camp for teens held at the Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle.  The camp is sponsored by The Aroostook Medical Center, the Northern Maine Community College and other local businesses and healthcare organizations, including the Houlton Regional Hospital.
      “Survivor Aroostook is a week-long camp that is run to promote healthcare careers to students who have just completed the eighth grade,” said Janene Stewart.  “The goal is to really get them thinking about entering the healthcare field after they graduate from high school and go on for their college degrees.”  Over 100 students from around the county have applied for the 60 openings at the June camp.
PRESENTATION — Houlton Rotarians recently leaned about “Survivor Aroostook,” a healthcare career exploration camp for teens, thanks to several visitors who spoke about the camp. Pictured here, from left, are: Mary Berube, Aroostook Medical Center; Janene Stewart, Houlton  Regional Hospital; Ben Ward, a Houlton High School student who participated last year; and Dana Delano, President of Houlton Rotary.
    “The students will experience one-of-a-kind demonstrations, hands-on activities, and an opportunity to participate in career exploration with the goal to increase the number of students who may have an interest in the healthcare field,” states Mary Berube, co-coordinator of the camp. “There is currently a nationwide shortage of workers in certain areas of healthcare, and the problem isn’t expected to improve much over the next several years.  Being in a rural area, we have even more of a challenge attracting people to stay and work in the area.”
    About 3.5 million new healthcare jobs are expected to be created in the United States over the next 10 years.  In nursing, the workforce is aging and the number of younger nurses is decreasing: in 1980, the number of registered nurses under the age of 30 was 25 percent; but by 2000, the figure had fallen to 9 percent. Locally, it continues to be difficult for healthcare organizations to fill certain positions.
    At Survivor Aroostook VI, a group of 60 campers who may someday be local healthcare professionals will learn about a variety of occupations during a week of teambuilding, exploration, and fun.  Ben Ward, a Houlton High School freshman, attended the camp last June and found an interest in healthcare that he may not have ever explored. “I enjoyed the way they presented many different healthcare professions.  I am now focusing my high school education on the courses that I need to go into the field of Radiology.  Making real casts and suturing steak was a lot of fun and proved to me that I could have a career in healthcare.”
    “This summer’s campers still have four years to prepare for college,” states Stewart.  “Survivor Aroostook camp not only introduces the teens to healthcare careers, but is a team building experience forming new relationships and a first time college campus experience.  I believe Aroostook County and in particular, Houlton Regional Hospital, will see many students entering the healthcare field and returning to Houlton to work.”
    Houlton Rotary was pleased to present to Janene, Mary, and Ben a check in the amount of $150 to sponsor two campers for this year’s Aroostook Survivor Camp, taking place June 23 – 27.