Onvida Health shows Yuma students healthcare careers beyond doctors, nurses

Onvida Health used a local career exploration event to show Yuma students that healthcare jobs stretch far beyond doctors and nurses, bringing high school and college students face to face with professionals, demonstrations and questions about how different roles fit together.

The outreach came as the not-for-profit system, which says it operates 430 inpatient beds, 45 outpatient clinics and a free-standing emergency department, continues to build its own hiring pipeline in Yuma County. Onvida Health says that pipeline includes nursing, seasonal jobs and provider careers, a broad mix that reflects how much staffing the region needs to keep care moving across clinics, hospital units and emergency care.

At Career Exploration Night, students heard from Briana Smith, DNP, and Marc Chasin, the system’s senior vice president and chief digital and information officer. The event put a spotlight on both bedside and non-bedside paths, including nursing credentials, health technology and other support roles that often go unnoticed by students who only picture hospital work as physician or RN jobs.

The effort was not a one-off. In January, Onvida Health held a three-day Mentor Me winter workshop for students from area high schools and Arizona Western College, giving them an inside look at health care careers. Onvida Health and Arizona Western College also launched plans in 2024 for a Health Careers Center meant to expand education and keep local talent in Yuma County. The planned center includes a simulation lab and training in research, data and analytics, informatics, healthcare administration, technology, patient care and facilities.

The system has also worked with STEDY, the Southwest Technical Education District of Yuma, to move students closer to clinical work. The inaugural cohort included 10 students age 17 and older for rotations in primary care clinics from Feb. 2 through March 12, 2026, meeting Monday through Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. That kind of early exposure matters in a county where getting students trained locally can decide whether they stay and work locally later.

The stakes are even higher as Onvida Health and the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix prepare to open Arizona’s first rural regional medical school branch in Yuma County in July 2026. The three-year Primary Care Accelerated Pathway is set to admit up to 15 students a year for the first three years, with full tuition scholarships funded by Onvida Health, and it is expected to support up to 300 rotations annually. With nearly 70% of Arizona’s Health Professional Shortage Areas in rural communities, the effort to recruit Yuma students into healthcare is becoming part of the region’s long-term plan to keep essential care staffed at home.