The Summers County Community has received good news that funding for the Summers County School of Practical Nursing is still in place. Earlier this month the community learned the program had been canceled and funding had been pulled from the nursing training program. Since 1968 hundreds of program graduates have staffed Summers ARH Hospital, Mainstreet Nursing on the hospital’s third floor, and Summers Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hilldale. The program has trained over 600 graduates who have found good-paying professional jobs in the Hinton community. Demand for nurses is huge and competitive. The Summers County LPN classes have provided these and other beneficial opportunities to keep more residents in their hometowns where they wish to live.
Over the past 52 years the Summers School of Practical Nursing has produced approximately 600 nurses. The program accepts and trains 14 qualified nurses per year. Students have already been accepted and their tuition paid to attend classes when the program reopens with a late start. A coordinator is still needed to run the LPN school and candidates are being sought. The Summers County Schools Superintendent has once again posted a job opening for a candidate to serve as coordinator for nursing training. Job advertising will continue until the end of October and will be found in The Hinton News and other area papers, as well as on line.
Recognizing the consequences of shutting down such a successful vocational training school Republicans, Democrats and people within the community worked together to get the program reinstated. Summers County has once again come together to do what is best for Summers County. To quote Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
