Brenda Streit, volunteer services supervisor at OSF St. Luke Medical Center in Kewanee, has been selected as the first OSF Trailblazer: Workforce of the Future Challenge winner for her Camp Med project. 

The challenge was designed to bring forth ideas on developing a local talent pipeline to grow the workforce of the future, right here at home.

Camp Med is geared toward high school students considering a career in health care. Participants will spend a week learning from various departments in the hospital, nurturing their passion for health care and introducing them to local career opportunities. Planning is underway and Camp Med is scheduled to launch next summer.

Five finalists were chosen to make presentations to OSF Saint Luke and OSF Innovation leaders. Camp Med was the top idea submitted. 

The other projects will move forward with front line mission partners leading planning teams. These projects centered on developing virtual tools for job seekers, creating a health care-focused curriculum for students of all ages, collaborating with area organizations to introduce non-clinical roles to the community and developing a more robust student volunteer program.

The OSF Saint Luke Innovation Hub opened this spring as a space for mission partners and the community to encourage collaboration, brainstorm solutions and bring ideas to life. The first community events in the Innovation Hub will focus on STEAM programming for junior high students. 

A session on microscopes on July 26, and one on July 27 on anatomy and dissection, are planned.

Students going into sixth through eighth grades are invited to attend the half-day sessions free of charge. Space is limited, so participants should register as soon as possible.

Visit facebook.com/OSFSaintLuke for more information.