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Singing River breaks ground on Mississippi’s first medical apprenticeship facility

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Singing River breaks ground on Mississippi’s first medical apprenticeship facility

OCEAN SPRINGS — Amber Granger, 38, took her first health care job more than two decades ago as a nursing assistant.

She went back to school to be a lab technician, then moved into management. She dreamed of becoming a nurse but she couldn’t give up her income – or take on anymore student debt – for nursing school.

Her career aspirations sat on hold until the Singing River Healthcare Academy gave her the nudge she needed. The new academy is the state’s first-ever medical apprenticeship program.

The academy is part of the Singing River Health System’s – and state and local leadership’s – answer to the major staffing shortages plaguing the state’s health care system.

“If I can advance my career, continue to work, and provide for my family then why not apply?” said Granger, a Gulfport resident. “I got the call that I was accepted and it was surreal until my first day of school.”

Amber Granger, left, poses with nursing instructor Lauren Meaut during the Singing River Healthcare Academy’s groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 10, 2022. (Photo: Sara DiNatale)

Now Granger is on her way to become a licensed practical nurse. She’s in a cohort of 15 in the fledgling academy, which won’t have a dedicated homebase until a new complex is constructed. The program allows students to train for a host of much-needed health care jobs without charge and while getting paid for on-the-job training.

On Thursday, Gov. Tate Reeves gathered with hospital leaders to break ground on the academy’s planned four-story building. The new training center will be a short drive from Singing River’s Ocean Springs hospital campus on Bienville Boulevard.

“This transformative program is going to have a huge impact on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” Reeves said during Thursday’s celebration. “And, quite frankly, it’s going to have a huge impact on the entire state of Mississippi.”

Singing River CEO Tiffany Murdock said the program projects to have 1,000 students in the fall of 2024. She plans to more than quadruple that annual count once the academy’s building is open to students.

Reeves said the academy fits the state’s overall approach to strengthening the economy through workforce development by ensuring Mississippians have access to training for the state’s most in-demand and high-paying positions.

“This academy will strengthen the pipeline of health care professionals in Mississippi,” he said, “and will help entice people to live, learn and work right here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”

Lauren Fernandez, a 33-year-old Ocean Springs resident, is one of the program’s recent graduates. The former Army medic is now a surgical technologist. She aids surgeons from a procedure’s start to finish.

“I had gotten out of health care for a while,” Fernandez said, “and I debated going back for surgical tech school. But then I saw the apprenticeship program and I was like, ‘This is meant to be.’”

In addition to practical nurses and surgical technologists, the program also trains nursing assistants, medical assistants, and phlebotomists.

Hospitals have been facing staffing shortages since before the pandemic, but the issues peaked as the worst of COVID-19 dragged on. Nurses left the field altogether, took on less-stressful nursing jobs outside a hospital setting, or became contracted travel nurses for higher pay.

Mississippi hospitals reported about 3,000 total nursing vacancies at the end of 2021, according to a survey by the Mississippi Hospital Association.

“I can’t be 2,500 people,” Granger said, referring to the state’s massive nursing shortages, “but I can fill the gap of one.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi News

Girls, parents and gym owner reported concerns about gymnastics coach years before sex abuse case

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www.wjtv.com – Ryan J. Foley – 2025-08-29 09:49:00

SUMMARY: Sean Gardner, a gymnastics coach, faced multiple abuse allegations from gymnasts and parents dating back to 2018, yet he continued coaching and was even promoted at Chow’s Gymnastics, owned by renowned coach Liang “Chow” Qiao. Despite reports of inappropriate touching and grooming behavior, USA Gymnastics and SafeSport failed to act decisively. Gardner was banned in 2022 after a sexual abuse complaint but was arrested only in 2025 following FBI investigation revealing he installed hidden cameras to exploit young gymnasts. The case highlights systemic failures by gymnastics authorities, law enforcement, and the gym in protecting athletes from abuse.

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Leaders, family mark 70th anniversary of Emmett Till’s murder

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www.wjtv.com – Kaitlin Howell – 2025-08-28 09:09:00

SUMMARY: In honor of Emmett Till and the 70th anniversary of his 1955 lynching in Mississippi, leaders and family will hold a news conference at the Mississippi State Capitol on August 28, 2025. Till, a 14-year-old Black Chicago teen, was brutally murdered after being falsely accused of whistling at a white woman. His killers were acquitted by an all-white jury but later confessed. His death galvanized the Civil Rights Movement. Recently, thousands of previously unreleased federal records detailing the investigation were made public. President Biden signed legislation making lynching a federal hate crime and established a national monument honoring Till and his mother.

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrenders to ICE in Baltimore, again faces possible deportation

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www.wjtv.com – BRIAN WITTE and BEN FINLEY Associated Press – 2025-08-25 07:22:00

SUMMARY: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national detained by U.S. immigration authorities in Baltimore, faces potential immediate deportation under the Trump administration. A Maryland federal court order pauses deportations for immigrants challenging detention, including Abrego Garcia. Previously wrongfully deported to El Salvador despite fearing violence, he was returned to the U.S. and charged with human smuggling, which he denies, calling the prosecution vindictive. The administration alleges gang ties, which he rejects. Abrego Garcia faces deportation to Uganda, a new U.S. deportation partner, despite his family and life in Maryland. His attorneys seek to block deportation pending legal review and due process.

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