Lacie Pincock has one regret about her academic career. The instructor at the Cassia County Regional Technical Center who teaches health professions classes to high school students didn’t take any career technical education (CTE) programs when she attended high school.

“The program was here — I just didn’t do it,” Pincock said. “I didn’t take CTE until I was in college when I decided I wanted to be a nurse, and I still kick myself.”

Pincock became a nurse and worked at Rupert Minidoka Hospital on the acute care and surgical floor before deciding she wanted to teach. She’s been at the tech center since 2013.

Pincock, along with other health professions CTE instructors across the state, are helping train the next generation of healthcare workers in Idaho. The Gem State has a severe shortage of healthcare workers, and introducing high school students to career options in the field is one way to bolster the system.

SUPPORTING CTE PROGRAMS

The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health has helped 29 schools add or expand health professions CTE programs since 2024, including Cassia County School District. An additional 8-10 schools are receiving grants for the 2026-27 academic year.

The grant to Pincock’s certified nursing assistant program helped increase the capacity by adding sinks to the classroom, widening doorways to make it easier to move beds for testing purposes. The program, which began in 1999 with a cap of 12 students for the program, grew to 53 students in 2024-25, and 51 of those students passed their certification exams.

“It’s such an advantage for anyone going into healthcare to get it done in high school — it fast-tracks careers in the healthcare industry,” Pincock said. “Kids are just so much better prepared for the healthcare industry and college in general. It helps students prepare for college because this college-level feel.”

Pincock said the CNA pathway is good for any student thinking about healthcare careers.

“Even if you don’t go into nursing, if you go into radiology, getting the foundation done in high school is a huge advantage,” Pincock said. “This prepares them to be a better healthcare professional.”

Savannah Lind can attest. She took the CNA program in the 2017-18 school year, which laid a solid foundation for her post-high school education and helped her in many ways.

“It enabled me to work through college as a CAN (at Minidoka Memorial Hospital),” Lind said. “That experience obviously helped me financially, but it also gave me a lot of real-life experiences in the healthcare setting that benefited me while I was going to nursing school. I was able to apply that knowledge and things I learned from the hospital setting.”

Lind now works at Minidoka Memorial Hospital as a nurse. Before her current role, she graduated from the College of Southern Idaho with her associate’s degree and worked at Cassia Regional Medical Center. She later obtained her bachelor’s degree and now teaches an online course at CSI.

“One thing that helped me is the relationships I created while doing the CNA program,” Lind said. “Relationships do matter. I’ve had instructors and classmates help me get jobs. If you have those good relationships and people think highly of you, they’re more than happy to help you.”

THE NEXT GENERATION

Ainsly Erickson is a 2026 graduate of Raft River High School. She’s heading to Idaho State University to study nursing, and her decision to go into healthcare was solidified after she took the CNA program at the Tech Center.

“Honestly, this has been totally amazing,” she said. “There’s so much real-world training that you get. This class has been an eye-opener, but in a good way. I would say it’s made me more determined.”

It took a bit of perseverance for Erickson to take the class. Raft River High is about a 40-minute bus ride to the tech center, which she endured twice a week. She had to be on campus before 8 a.m., making mornings a little difficult. It was a sacrifice that was worth it. Raft River is one of four Cassia School District high schools that feed into the tech center, while Valley High in Hazelton and Minico High in Rupert also send students there.

“The kids have to load the bus at 7 a.m., and that’s an hour earlier,” Pincock said. “It shows the ambition of the kids. It’s a different kind of commitment. Valley View has a four-day school week that’s opposite, so students are taking the CTE courses on their off day.”

Erickson first learned about the program from her sister-in-law, who took it in 2020, then saw her older sister take the courses in 2022.

“They really enjoyed it, and I wanted to become a nurse, so I took it,” she said. “Miss Pin is amazing. She is really helpful and willing to take the time to help everyone. Her experience helps us know what nurses and doctors need and how to treat people properly. We’ve learned you do what you’re assigned and treat people the way they’re supposed to be treated.”

After ISU, Erickson hopes to stay in state and work as a nurse.

“I want to be able to stay close to home and help people here in Idaho,” she said.

Students in the CNA program are required to do clinical rotations at area medical facilities to experience what CNAs do during their shifts.

“I’ve been teaching long enough that I’ve had three siblings come through and they now work at Cassia Hospital,” Pincock said. “When I go to clinical rotations, I see former students working as CNAs or RNs all the time. It’s the same with our EMT programs — we are feeding the facilities around here.”

Consider that proof that health professions CTE programs are helping to build the next generation of Idaho’s healthcare workforce.