The Olentangy Liberty High School students recognized a gap in the healthcare supply chain and saw an opportunity to give unused medical equipment a second life. This discovery led them to reach out to OhioHealth, where they connected with Jean Halpin, president of OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. Halpin responded to the students’ initial outreach and facilitated the connection with the system’s supply chain team.

“Glad you are doing this work. It saves the planet and helps others in our world,” Halpin told the Project MedBridge team.

That connection helped transform the students’ idea into a large-scale effort to redirect unused medical supplies to healthcare organizations that could use them.

“The supplies already existed, and the need already existed,” said Ben Kurian, team lead and junior at Olentangy Liberty High School. “What was missing was a way to connect the two.”

OhioHealth donated approximately $250,000 of medical supplies to Project MedBridge, including 9,393 boxes of 3M N95 respirator and 20,736 reusable hot-and-cold therapy packs. The supplies donated by OhioHealth are being distributed through Brother’s Brother Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based humanitarian organization that distributes medical supplies and equipment to hospitals worldwide.

“I was encouraged to learn there was an opportunity for these supplies to be utilized by organizations in need rather than being discarded,” Amy McFarland, OhioHealth senior consultant for supply chain, told the Delaware Source. “It is inspiring to see high school students demonstrate such a strong commitment to addressing both healthcare and environmental challenges.”

The students originally set a goal to collect around 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of medical supplies. With OhioHealth’s donation of more than 30,000 pounds the team quickly surpassed that goal and gained national recognition.

“At that point it wasn’t a hypothetical student project anymore. The biggest hospital system in our city was actually trusting us to figure out what happened next,” Vahin Dubey, outreach lead for Project MedBridge told the Delaware Source.

Project MedBridge was selected as one of 71 teams nationwide for the 2026 Carnegie Young Leaders for Civic Preparedness class. As one of only two Ohio teams selected, the students received $7,500 in funding, along with access to a national network for young leaders.

“Being in a room with young people from across the country who were already building serious projects in their communities made it very clear that age doesn’t have to determine the scale of a problem you can take on,” Ben Kurian said. “Not even a week later, we were back in Ohio moving a donation larger than anything we could’ve dreamed of.”

With Project MedBridge’s first donation complete, they have set a new goal of redirecting 100,000 pounds of supplies by the end of 2027.

“This is the first,” said Naman Soni, operations lead for Project MedBridge. “The next step is making sure our work doesn’t stop with just one hospital.”

• OhioHealth Marion General’s Grow Your Own Medical Staff program gives local students hands-on experience and mentorship as they explore careers in medicine.
• Several Marion physicians are program alumni who returned to practice in the community and now help mentor the next generation.
• The program’s first participant since its 2023 relaunch has been accepted into medical school, bringing its goal of growing future Marion physicians full circle.

A familiar face can make a difference in healthcare. At OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, that belief is at the heart of the Grow Your Own Medical Staff program, an initiative that invests in local students interested in pursuing careers in medicine.

“The Grow Your Own program is designed for students in Marion and surrounding communities who want to become physicians,” said Kerrie Reinhard, director of Medical Staff Affairs at OhioHealth Marion General Hospital and head of the program. “We offer them an opportunity to work in the hospital setting and gain experience with the hope that eventually they will come back and practice here.”

The program originally existed at Marion General years ago before being relaunched in 2023 to continue that investment in the next generation of providers. Several physicians currently practicing at Marion General were once Grow Your Own participants themselves and now help guide the program as part of the steering committee.

“The greatest feeling is knowing that there’s quite a few of us that have gone through the program and the program works because we came back to our hometown and we’re giving back to the community that gave so much to us,” said Heather Columber, DO, OhioHealth family medicine physician and Grow Your Own program alumna.

Participants work as patient support assistants while also connecting with physicians, shadowing different specialties and learning more about careers in medicine.

For Delaney Tabbert, a Grow Your Own participant who is beginning medical school this August, the experience helped confirm her career path.

“I definitely attribute this program to one of my main reasons for deciding that I wanted to become a physician,” Tabbert said.

As a patient support assistant in the emergency department, she gained experience taking vital signs, performing EKGs, assisting with CPR, transporting patients and learning how hospital teams work together.

Beyond clinical skills, students gain confidence and a better understanding of what it means to care for people in their own community.

“Recruiting to a smaller community isn’t always easy,” Dr. Columber said. “But what we do have is caring for people that you live with or that you go to church with, that your kids go to school with. Medicine is about building relationships.”

That focus on relationships is a key part of the Grow Your Own experience. Each student is paired with physician mentors who help guide them throughout the program. Physician champions provide support within different specialties, giving students someone to learn from and envision as a future example.

The program also creates opportunities for students to connect with medical students and residents, who share their experiences navigating the path to becoming a physician. Students also learn more about physician opportunities and community needs through OhioHealth provider recruitment leaders.

“The personal connections that these students are now making, I think that is what makes it so special and just so different,” Dr. Columber said. “I made great relationships with some of the providers that I worked with, and they are some of my greatest colleagues now and long-term friends.”

For Beth Hardwick, a Grow Your Own participant and aspiring physician, those relationships have helped shape the kind of physician she hopes to become.

Hardwick was mentored by Dr. Columber and said watching her care for patients with a deep understanding of their lives outside the hospital showed her the importance of practicing medicine in a community where you know the people you serve.

One experience especially stood out. While working in the postpartum unit, Hardwick cared for a patient who lived nearby and whom she knew personally. She later saw the patient and her new baby at home in the community.

“Being able to care for her and her new child was really cool,” Hardwick said. “I get to see them doing well, and that was a really cool moment for me. That’s the benefit of working where you live.”

“Finding students in this area that want to become physicians, want to come back, work in their hometown, take care of their neighbors and their friends — that’s something really special,” Reinhard said.

And she’s already seeing that vision come to life.

“We had our first student get accepted into medical school,” Reinhard said. “I’m so proud of her and looking forward to seeing her come back and practice in Marion someday.”

Applications for the Grow Your Own Medical Staff Program open mid-November and remain open through Feb. 1. Students interested in learning more can contact Kerrie Reinhard at 740-383-8671 beginning in November.

• Students explore healthcare careers through a behind-the-scenes tour of OhioHealth Marion General Hospital.
• Project Inspire brings classroom lessons to life with hands-on experiences focused on leadership, teamwork and communication.
• OhioHealth invests in the next generation by building community connections and introducing students to future career opportunities.

As another school year comes to a close, second-grade students from Benjamin Harrison and Heritage elementary schools got a behind-the-scenes look inside OhioHealth Marion General Hospital.

For Benjamin Harrison students, the visit marked the culmination of Project Inspire, a partnership that introduces students to the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People through hands-on lessons focused on teamwork, communication, leadership and resilience. Throughout the school year, OhioHealth associates visit classrooms to help bring those lessons to life.

"Project Inspire is a Stephen Covey-inspired program for elementary students that teaches kids the seven habits of being successful," said Michelle Murray, PT, OhioHealth director, Rehabilitation Services. "It helps them build on those skills as they go through elementary school until high school."

For Benjamin Harrison teacher Laurie Newell, who helped implement Project Inspire starting in 2016, the hospital visits are the highlight of the program.

"They absolutely love this day and learn so much from every individual that they meet,” Newell said. "Many of them saw parents or relatives today that are here working. It brings it down to home for them that this is a great place to work. There are so many jobs that they do not realize are actually here."

This year, Heritage Elementary students also participated in the hospital tour for the first time, giving them an opportunity to explore healthcare careers and learn more about the hospital environment. Students toured departments throughout the hospital, including the emergency department, laboratory, pharmacy, surgery and nutrition services.

"Sometimes the hospital can mean scary things," said Heritage teacher, Jill Shore. "It was really nice to let them explore the hospital without being scared. Nobody was sick, and the kids were so excited and so engaged."

Marion City Schools Board of Education member, Evan Geyer, said opportunities like the hospital tour help students see the hospital in a new light.

"Just having a local partner like OhioHealth so the kids can get out and explore is important," Geyer said. "Hospitals aren't just a scary place. They're a comforting place where people go and get taken care of. It also opens their eyes to opportunities that exist within the hospital for future career exploration."

For OhioHealth, programs like Project Inspire and opportunities to welcome students into the hospital are an investment in the community's future.

"It's very important to build trust in the community, even from a young age," Murray said. "We're going to be there to support them and help them heal."

A one-of-a-kind partnership with Guernsey County high schools and OhioHealth Southeastern Medical Center is helping students explore healthcare careers before they graduate. The HEART program (Hospital Education And Real-World Training) gives juniors and seniors hands-on experience in the hospital, and in some cases, job offers.

The program allows students to shadow healthcare workers in respiratory therapy, cancer care, imaging, physical therapy, lab services, environmental services, nutrition and registration.

“It is an absolutely wonderful program,” said Madi Fraley, career navigator at Meadowbrook High School. “Students loved it. They experienced so much.”

One of those students is Kendyl Trott, an 18-year-old Meadowbrook graduate who participated in the program during the 2024–2025 school year. Trott completed a rotation in radiology, a field she had been interested in for a long time, and now works as a patient support assistant in the hospital’s float pool. This fall, she’ll begin studying radiology at the University of Rio Grande.

“This, from my perspective, is a generational and foundational investment by OhioHealth to strengthen the community we serve,” said Wendy Elliott, president of Southeastern Medical Center. “Many times young people think only in terms of doctors and nurses when they think about hospital careers. Those are great professions, but there are many other phenomenal jobs. By exposing these young people to hospital careers, they get a broader view of opportunities, and we grow our pipeline of local talent.”

That pipeline is already taking shape. This past year, two HEART students were hired by the hospital, and another is in the interview process. Christopher Haight, human resources advisor at Southeastern Med, works closely with Fraley and Tricia Nichols, a career navigator at Cambridge High School, to help students gain real-world experience while also supporting the hospital’s staffing needs.

“We’re very pleased with the caliber of young workers we’ve hired,” Haight said. “This is a testament to the high school career navigators who are very aware of our needs and values and regularly recommend great candidates. I consider them part of the team and reach out to them first when any jobs become available.”

And it’s not just a one-way benefit. Students are helping the hospital improve, too.

“The students bring a fresh set of eyes and ask important questions that allow the hospital to think about processes in a new way,” Elliott said.

For the upcoming school year, HEART will expand to include a fall session for 12 juniors interested in healthcare careers and a spring session for seniors who are seeking entry-level jobs after graduation. The program will also add lectures on topics like hospital finances, wellness practices, health insurance, career pathways and life safety skills.

“It’s eye-opening,” said Nichols. “It’s really exciting, and it gets them out of the box. They have nothing but good things to say, and they get other students interested.”

The HEART program supports the hospital’s goal of doubling the number of associates between the ages of 16 and 20 while continuing a proud tradition of hiring from within the community.

To learn more about student opportunities at OhioHealth, click here.

This month, Krystal Bowen will graduate from Tri-Rivers Career Center’s LPN-RN program – helping to meet a significant need for more nurses in the Marion community. While juggling school, work, and family responsibilities -- Bowen was able to cross the finish line thanks, in part, to support from OhioHealth. 

One year ago, OhioHealth announced a $100,000 commitment to TRCC – over the course of five years -- to help offset some of the financial burden for students and to help remove barriers. 

So far 60 students have benefited, including Bowen. She says this support made all the difference. 

“OhioHealth’s grant money has been a tremendous blessing during my time in nursing school,” Bowen shared. “Without assistance from government agencies, and while working part-time and helping care for my family, the financial strain has often felt overwhelming. This grant has provided crucial support, allowing me to focus more on my education and less on financial stress. I am deeply grateful to OhioHealth for investing in my future and helping make my dream of becoming a nurse possible.” 

The commitment reflects OhioHealth’s continued dedication to growing and sustaining the local healthcare workforce. With strong partnerships like this one, OhioHealth and Tri-Rivers are building a brighter future for both students and patients in the Marion community. 

“This was never just a donation — it was an investment in people,” said Jim Parobek, president of OhioHealth Marion General Hospital. “We are proud to celebrate this milestone with Tri-Rivers and the incredible students who are working hard to care for others.” 
 

To learn more about student opportunities at OhioHealth, click here.

This realization led them to create the Physician Diversity Scholars program, which has continued to grow and garner recognition as the only program of its kind in the United States.

"Talent is equally distributed, but opportunities are not," says Program Director Nanette Lacuesta, MD, OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. "We are taking great strides with intentional programming to support underrepresented students. It's also a commitment to living our value of Inclusion."

The program pairs mentors from across OhioHealth with medical students attending Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine and The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The aspiring physicians learn from their mentors about building a career in medicine, and can ask questions to guide their own path.

Dr. Lacuesta, who is a first-generation Filipino-American, has the unique perspective of benefitting from the program as a student, mentor, associate program director and now director the program. She knows firsthand the value of a program helping underrepresented students thrive.

"Medical students value mentors who look like them, but more importantly, students tell us they value a mentor who cares about them," says Dr. Lacuesta.

That's exactly what Isaiah Rolle, DO, PhD, a resident at Riverside Methodist, was looking for in a mentor.

"I didn't know anything about OhioHealth at the time, but I knew I wanted mentorship," says Dr. Rolle, whose interest in neuroscience led to his paring with BJ Hicks, MD, vascular neurologist and co-director, Comprehensive Stroke Program, Riverside Methodist.

Dr. Rolle, who was raised in Harlem by a single mom, has never experienced true mentorship.

"I went from a historically black college to a graduate school program where I was the only black person in class, and that was an adjustment," he recalls. "It's pretty sad, but only a few faculty members took interest in me over five-and-a-half years."

The mentorship program at OhioHealth is what helped Dr. Rolle choose Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine for his medical degree.

"There are not many minority staff physicians who students or residents can automatically hitch their wagon to," says Dr. Hicks. "But as they go through the rigors of medical school and training, they benefit from someone who looks like them, who takes a vested interest in them and who cares about them."

The Physician Diversity Scholars program schedules group events for participants, service projects, and offers the bond of one-on-one engagement as students experience the pressures of medical school and residency.

"Mentorship could be a one-time conversation with a student or, like in the case of Dr. Rolle, it could grow into a long-term relationship," says Dr. Hicks. "I just know I need to make myself available so they can pick my brain and figure out for themselves what they want to do in medicine."

An undeniable impact

The Physician Diversity Scholars program recently hit its growth stride. Applicants from last year to this year more than doubled, from 16 to 35, with the program expanding from nine to 15 accepted students. The program is attracting a class reflecting the diversity of the nation, while also attracting a diverse group of mentors. And no other mentorship program in the nation intentionally pairs a professional development curriculum with a community service component. The program also offers student loan forgiveness for scholars who become staff physicians after residency.

But according to Dr. Lacuesta, none of these metrics or benefits are what drives the program.

"We're doing this for patient outcomes," she says. "When patients identify with their physician, trust goes up and patient outcomes are better."

Roberto Perez, a native Venezuelan and second-year student at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine who is mentored by Carlos Sanchez, MD, an interventional cardiologist at Riverside Methodist, sees this cultural and relational connection play out when shadowing Dr. Sanchez.

"Diversity in healthcare can impact quality of care because there is that familiarity, that ability to better communicate with a patient who shares a similar background and gain more in-depth information that otherwise may not come out or get lost in translation," says Roberto.

As an example, he references how in Latino cultures, consumption of a particular ethnic soup high in salt might trigger a medical decision or diet adjustment recommendation that a provider without that cultural knowledge might not know.

As Roberto sees the intended outcomes of what the program seeks to address long term, he's also a recipient of its immediate intent. The 23-year-old looks after his two brothers, 21 and 19, and is the legal guardian of his youngest brother. They're all pursuing an education while their parents remain in Venezuela.

"Roberto is a passionate young student, and I love that about him," says Dr. Sanchez, who is originally from Guatemala. "I want to empower him to find his own path, to be the best version of himself."

Dr. Sanchez recalls a phone conversation with Roberto's father in Venezuela. He was encouraged and given permission to "do whatever you need to do" to help Roberto.

"Our relationship has evolved nicely outside of medicine," says Dr. Sanchez.

Their shared Latino heritage led Dr. Sanchez and his wife to invite Roberto and his brothers to Thanksgiving and Christmas, times when they would naturally miss being with family.

"We wanted to make the holiday special for them, so we surprised the boys by coordinating a personal note from their parents," says Dr. Sanchez. "It was very emotional."

"To me, the Physician Diversity Scholars program exemplifies the kind of respect, kindness, hope and appreciation for others I wish to see in the world," says Dr. Sanchez.

OhioHealth physicians need only the desire to mentor. The rest will take care of itself with the help of this one-of-a-kind program.

This story was originally published in an internal OhioHealth associate publication.

Life threatening bleeding emergencies can happen anywhere. It happened recently at Thomas Worthington High School.

As over 150 faculty and staff members from the Worthington School District, along with 30 students gathered in the Thomas Worthington auditorium on a recent evening, they heard a story from a colleague about a student-athlete who had tripped and fallen into a window during indoor track practice. The glass cut into an artery, causing a serious and bloody injury that needed immediate attention.

Fortunately, one of his teammates, a lifeguard by training, knew exactly what to do. He took a t-shirt and packed the wound, holding pressure on it until paramedics arrived. With this type of injury, a victim can bleed out and die within minutes. His friend saved his life – because he had the proper training and was able to stop the bleed.

It wasn’t a problem that the t-shirt wasn’t sterile, according to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center’s trauma outreach coordinator, Stacey Wickham, who teaches Stop the Bleed courses.

"It doesn't matter if it's clean or not because they're going to get washed out and get antibiotics at the hospital and if they bleed out and lose their blood volume because you didn't pack that wound because you didn't have anything clean, we can't fix dead," she said.

Now, other teachers and students also know what to do. Members from the OhioHealth Trauma team taught the free, hands-on course called “Stop the Bleed,” teaching them how to pack wounds and apply tourniquets. Spectrum News 1 was on-site to cover the event.

"The kids have opened up to us. You can tell that they've built that trust with their teachers and with the school to ask the real questions and let us know that this is kind of scary, but [ask], 'What would we do?'" math teacher Mallory Tecklenburg told Spectrum News 1 reporter Chuck Ringwalt.

It’s not just falls. Training like this can help in the event of a school shooting or car accident – any major bleeding situation.

"It was important for me to be prepared for that bad incident to occur, which hopefully it never does, but if it were to occur at this school, I'd want to be ready," freshman student Josh Hickman told Ringwalt.

“I think not just school shootings, but also say somebody accidentally cuts them-self on something or purposely cut something, it's really helpful to have that knowledge that probably most of our peers will not have," added freshman Gloria Chan.

The Stop the Bleed program at OhioHealth also extends to the north at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, providing training and bleeding control kits at schools in Richland County.  

“It’s a life-saving skill, just like CPR,” said Laura Pond, trauma program manager at Mansfield Hospital. “It's those first few minutes that really make a difference and can save someone's life.

Read more about Stop the Bleed in Richland County by clicking on the image below.

To learn more about Stop the Bleed, including how to schedule a free course for your school, place of worship or other organization, click here.

Would your choice be different if you had a chance to take tours of certain companies or businesses?

On Sept. 20, more than a dozen students from the Buckeye Valley Local School District toured OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital. From patient registration, labs, pharmacy, imaging and more, these students had the chance to be face to face with those who work hard, take care of patients, and contribute to the community many of them live in.

With this tour, Buckeye Valley High School and OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital are hoping to bring their worlds together, potentially finding the perfect fit for a teen’s career.

“OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital really enjoys introducing career options in a hospital setting,” said Mindy Sanford, director of Clinical Support Services at Grady Memorial Hospital. “Hosting Buckeye Valley High School for a tour allows students to get a glimpse of the actual working environments available and allows those students to meet with individuals from our team working in these departments every day.”

For many of these students, they are still trying to forge a path that will lead them to a career they love. Senior Hanna Rader says a tour like this really opened her eyes.

“Not sure what I want to do yet, but to have something like this to help me, and guide me, I hope it gives me a push,” Rader said.

That’s exactly what the goal of a tour like this is. To allow these students to consider something they may have not even known existed. Lisa-Marie Reinhart is with the Delaware Area Career Center and says that these types of experiences can’t happen without a good partner like OhioHealth.

“It’s amazing to have partners that share with the student’s opportunities in terms of careers,” Reinhart said. “It’s one thing to study in a classroom or research careers online, but to have business partners open their doors to students makes a world of difference.”

While the students get plenty out of a tour like this, Sanford said don’t think for a second that the teams at the hospital don’t enjoy it, and even look forward to paying it forward.

“A tour like this allows our associates to share their passion for the areas of the hospital they work in, and I know they are proud to have the opportunity to show some of the departments that might be considered a little more behind the scenes,” Sanford said.

“I think it’s important for workforce development, always looking for that talent acquisition and that pipeline of employees,” Reinhart said.

In health care, there are so many jobs beyond the doctors, nurses and physician assistants. While some of these high school students might go in that direction, a tour like this could send them in a brand new direction.

“Within the medical community there are so many opportunities,” Reinhart said. “I think it’s important for them to see that not all positions require a four-year degree or even more.”

Rader says having these opportunities not only says a lot about her school district, but the Delaware County business community.

“It shows we are not just sitting in classrooms, we are going out and being shown this is an opportunity for you, and we will help you,” Rader said.

This story was written by OhioHealth Media Relations, and printed by the Delaware Gazette.

To read the article in the Delaware Gazette, click the logo.