Dr. Gina Santori
Industries change over time and job prospects go up and down due to many factors in society. This can make it difficult for students to choose a career. One thing is certain, though; employment in health care is going up. Dramatically.
There are many reasons for this. The baby boomer generation is aging at the same time that life expectancies are increasing. Add to this the fact that more people in America have access to health care and it is clear that people considering a career in this field have nearly unlimited opportunities.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that employment in fields related to health care will grow by 18 percent by 2026. There will be more health care jobs added in that time than any other occupational group, as measured by the BLS.
Dr. Gina Santori, of Lisle, knows the trends and wants to help prepare people to serve in health care. She recently made a generous donation of $250,000 to Waubonsee Community College to support the students in the Nursing and Health Care Programs.
“I’m on the advisory board for the Nursing Program so I’ve seen its quality first hand. I’ve seen the surgical techs up close. I know they are great,” said Santori.
Her expertise on the advisory board is critical to the success of the program. The program administrators and faculty members rely on her, and others, to guide the program to ensure the students have the greatest education and training possible.
“Her [Dr. Santori’s] contributions to the program, both as an advisor and as a donor, are tremendous and we are extremely thankful to her,” said Dr. Jess Toussaint, Dean for Health Professions and Public Service at Waubonsee.
In addition to her position on the Nursing Program Advisory Board, Santori has served on the Waubonsee Community College Foundation Board since September 2014 and established a nursing scholarship in August 2013. That scholarship was first awarded in the spring of 2014 with two awards of $1,250 each. As a donor, she reviews the applications for the nursing scholarship.
“I am always struck by the diversity of the applicants,” she said. “These are real people who have had real struggles in their past and now want to help people. Their backgrounds will give them an advantage in working with patients.”
Santori knows what it’s like to work through the challenges of life and she relates to students at community colleges. At 17 years old, she was an unwed mother who had not finished high school. She started her college education at Truman College, a two-year college in Chicago. From that starting point, Santori went on to become a podiatrist. She is now finishing an additional doctorate degree in bioethics.
“I find the two-year programs are doing a better job than most four-year programs,” she said.
In addition to her service for and support of Waubonsee, Santori supports veterans groups in Aurora, provides medical services to Chippewa Indians in Michigan and she started a school in Cambodia, among other things.
As substantial as her services and contributions to the college are now, Santori has an eye towards the next generation as she advises students to know how to take care of their future patients not just physically, but emotionally.
“In health care, you have to do the work. But just doing the work is not enough. You must be truly interested in what the patients say. Too often physical touch—human contact—is missing. But it is needed. You have to use your heart.”
Santori believes that long-term personal success in health care requires taking care of the self, as much as the patient.
“Many people [in health care] won’t feel fulfilled over a lifetime. They get burned out because they are robots.”
To anyone considering a career in health care, Santori has this advice:
“Medicine is still a wonderful field to get into. You don’t have to have all the answers. You just have to care for people.”
Visit www.waubonsee.edu/healthsciences to learn more about all of the options in health care available at Waubonsee.
