2024 SWVHEC Annual Report

Southwest Virginia Healthcare Excellence Academy Lab School (SWVA-HEALS) Approved In April 2024, Governor Youngkin and the Virginia Board of Education announced that Emory & Henry was one of six higher education institutions selected to move forward with their community lab school plans. This approval brought affirmation to the program and continued funding. The Southwest Virginia Healthcare Excellence Academy Lab School (SWVA-HEALS), is a collaborative partnership between Emory & Henry; the school divisions of Smyth County, Wythe County, Washington County, and the City of Bristol; Virginia Highlands Community College; Wytheville Community College; the A. Linwood Holton Governor’s School; and the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. The SWVA-HEALS program establishes a high school career academy for students in Grades 10 12 to serve as a pipeline for preparing future healthcare professionals to meet the workforce shortages in Southwest Virginia. The mission of SWVA-HEALS is to work collaboratively with regional education, healthcare, and community partners to provide a rigorous, high-quality learning environment that promotes increased awareness of potential healthcare careers and prepares college and career ready students to pursue the required college degrees and professional credentials that lead to healthcare careers and increase the number of future healthcare providers practicing in Southwest Virginia. Fifty students will be accepted into the program, with classes beginning in August 2024. Approximately half of the students will attend at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center and the other half of students at the Emory & Henry facility in Marion, Virginia.

For more information: Dante Lee Executive Director SWVA-HEALS 276-619-4385 dslee@emoryhenry.edu

2023-24 Annual Report

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