Southern Health-Santé Sud held a career expo at Portage Collegiate Institute on Wednesday. Displays were lined up through the west-building gym, and students flocked to learn about possible opportunities post-high school. 

Southern Health-Santé Sud manager of recruitment and retention Kathryn Reimer says it was called the Discover Health Careers Expo.

"Southern Health-Santé Sud is displaying numerous different occupations," says Reimer. "It's open to the public and we have numerous students coming in to learn about the various occupations that exist within healthcare. We greatly value our nurses and our doctors, but there's so much more and this is an opportunity that students get to see that next generation that will be entering the workforce or post-secondary."

She notes it's the first of its kind this year, and the second that they've run in the region. 

"It's an initiative that we are doing across the province, so other regions throughout the province have held expos throughout," continues Reimer. "Some of the displays that we have here today are our facilities department. We have some booths here from Shared Health, which are our diagnostics. So, X-ray technicians, we have rehabilitations, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and nurses. There's long-term care which also has nurses, acute care nurses, and healthcare aides. We have paramedics here as well as mental health, and human resources has a booth."

Reimer adds they greatly appreciate the cooperation and partnership from the school division and the students.  She notes the turnout was fabulous, and students were engaged.

"We're looking forward to how what it's going to look like when they enter the workforce." 

Career development coordinator for Portage la Prairie School Division Blair Hordeski says the RHA approached THEM to host the event.

"It's so exciting just to be able to gather again post-COVID and to be able to hold these kinds of events," says Hordeski. "We really promote the culture of career here at the high school and it's about career exploration. It's not about, maybe, being 16 years old and deciding,'This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.' It's about exploring. So, this is the perfect vehicle for career exploration."