Workers recognized during 'Hospital Week'

"Hospital Week," a national salute to health care workers and volunteers, is taking a special look at the rapidly aging population and the effects it will have on society this week.\nIn 2007, someone will turn 50 years old every seven seconds, according to a press release from Bloomington Hospital. Additionally, 13 percent of the population will be over the age of 65.\nThese factors contribute to the increasing need for people to work in health care as professionals, administrators and volunteers. Many current health care workers are aging and reaching retirement age. According to a statement by Bloomington Hospital, this leaves a great deal of positions open for new health care workers "to fill the gap."\nBloomington Hospital is using this week to thank and recognize all of the health care workers and volunteers. National Nurses Week, which runs May 6-12, overlaps with this event. The hospital is participating in both in hopes of bringing recognition to everyone involved in health care fields. Bloomington Hospital has had events all week for its employees and will have employee picnics on Friday.\nThe hosptial is also using this week to educate the community about its efforts to recruit health care professionals from regional educational institutions.\nOne of the hospital's recruits is Misty Lowder, an Owen Valley High School and University of Southern Indiana graduate. Lowder is a respiratory therapist intern and said she is proud to work in the health care industry.\n"I have a great future as a respiratory therapist," she said. \nLowder did an internship in high school, hoping to work in the special care nursery. When no positions were available, she chose respiratory therapy, though she knew nothing about it at first.\n"I really liked it a lot," she said. "I got a scholarship as a graduating senior to work at Bloomington Hospital after graduation (from college)."\nLowder wanted to help people and have a hands-on job. She plans to stay in the respiratory therapy field and says there is no other career she would like to have.\nBloomington Hospital Media and Community Relations Coordinator Jonna Risher said the statistics about the aging population make the demand for skilled health care workers higher than ever.\nThe U.S. Census Bureau predicts that nurses will have the largest job growth of any occupation from 2002 to 2012, adding 623,000 to health care organizations.\n"An aging population will require increasing amounts of human and medical resources in the years to come," she said. "This will be costly for our country in terms of providing care."\nLowder encourages anyone to look into careers in health care, especially if they have a heart to help people.\n"If they want to be something where they can be hands-on and (they) like technology, it's a good field to go into," she said. "There are so many people that need help. It makes sense that they are the top careers"