TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Banner University Medical Center presented a $25,000 check Tuesday to Pima JTED, a program that provides high schoolers with career and technical training.
The donation will be used to fund Pima JTED’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman Center for Health and Medical Careers, which focuses on preparing high school students for work in the medical field.
Sarah Frost, CEO at Banner University Medical Center-Tucson & South Campus, says the funds allow the organization to develop the next generation of healthcare leaders.
"We knew that advancing health care careers in our community is really important,” Frost says. “Partnering with Pima JTED was a way in which we could expand career pathways right here in Tucson."
This comes at a time when 3.2 million Arizonans live in an area with health care shortages while 1 in 3 Arizona hospitals grapple with staffing problems. Kathy Prather, Superintendent and CEO of Pima JTED, says that these types of training problems help secure the future of healthcare.
“Because we have a lot of baby boomers retiring from the profession, we don’t have as many young people going into these fields,” Prather says. “So we are ensuring that we have a good supply in Southern Arizona of young people going into these career fields.”
The donation comes as a result of the 40th annual El Tour de Tucson, which raised over $8 million for nonprofits in the area. Banner University Medical Center has chosen Pima JTED as its primary beneficiary three years in a row for El Tour.
Frost says that partnering with groups like Pima JTED is “one way to advance careers and ensure that we’re able to take care of our community.”
The Mel and Enid Zuckerman Center for Health and Medical Careers is expected to open in July 2024.
