Baxter Sponsors New High School to Prepare Latinos for Healthcare Careers

Baxter International Inc.'s  Science@Work education initiative achieved a milestone with the opening of Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy (IHSCA), a new Chicago high school dedicated to preparing students for healthcare careers. The school will focus on providing Latinos with education and preparation to pursue careers that meet the nation's healthcare needs. Baxter also continued its commitment to sustainable product design with the introduction of a new dialyzer, and was named 2010 Medical Products Industry Leader of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the ninth year.

Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy Provides Latinos with Healthcare Education
Baxter is collaborating with several partners including Instituto del Progreso Latino, the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council and the Renaissance Schools Fund to launch the Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy (IHSCA) - the city's first charter health science career academy - to address the shortage of Latinos in the healthcare field and to support Chicago's efforts to provide high-quality education options.  Located on the city's southwest side, the school welcomed its first class of ninth graders on September 7 and will serve 600 students when fully enrolled.

IHSCA is unique in that it fully integrates the health sciences into all core subjects to create the next generation of doctors, nurses, scientists, technicians and healthcare professionals; provides students with a rigorous college prep curriculum for success in competitive colleges and universities; and offers the opportunity for students to earn professional certification for high-wage entry-level positions in the healthcare field, such as pharmacy technicians and physician assistants.

"The Academy's rigorous health science program will help ensure that future generations are prepared to pursue rewarding careers that meet the nation's increasing healthcare needs," said Robert L. Parkinson, Jr., Baxter's chairman and chief executive officer. "As a science- and technology-based healthcare company, Baxter has a responsibility to ensure that current and future students have every opportunity to learn and be inspired by math and science."