Published: March 20, 2026
LANSING, Mich.- Seeking to plant the seeds for its next generation of team members, University of Michigan Health-Sparrow Lansing this week welcomed more than 100 high school students from across Mid-Michigan.
Students received an immersive, behind-the-scenes look at the hospital as part of the newly launched UM Health-Sparrow Health Sciences Partnership Program. The initiative is designed to create a direct pipeline from local career and technical education programs to careers at UM Health-Sparrow.
On Wednesday and Thursday, students from Clinton RESA, Eaton RESA, Ingham ISD and the Lansing School District toured the facility, stepping beyond the patient room to see the complex workings of a major hospital.
“The one thing I want you to think about today,” Kathy Marble, Chief Nursing Officer, UM Health-Sparrow Lansing, told the students, “is to discover two job positions that you had no idea, when you walked in here today, even existed.”
The tours, which hosted 60 students Wednesday and another 45 on Thursday, aimed to do just that. Students rotated through interactive sessions with six clinical departments, including Pharmacy, Sterile Processing, Radiology, and toured Mary Free Bed at Sparrow. The goal was to provide hands-on exposure to the various careers available in a modern health care system.
“Think about it from the moment you walked in the door. Did you meet anybody in patient access? Those are the people that register our patients,” Marble said, urging students to look beyond doctors and nurses. “Who runs the blood work? Who takes the blood? When you start to think about all the positions, all the people that keep this little city of ours here at UM Health-Sparrow going.”
For Marble, who began her own career at UM Health-Sparrow as a new graduate, the connection to students is personal. She shared her journey with the students, from bedside nursing to her current role leading UM Health-Sparrow Lansing’s nursing staff.
“This is an opportunity to continue to show the students what is possible in the world of health care,” she said.
The Health Sciences Partnership Program aims to bridge education with career pathways through future mentorships and internships, giving students a competitive advantage as they enter the workforce and giving UM Health-Sparrow an early look at the next generation of caregivers.
To learn more about partnerships at UM Health-Sparrow, visit UofMHealthSparrow.org/um-health-sparrow-community-health/about-um-health-sparrow/um-health-sparrow-partnerships
Students tour UM Health-Sparrow Lansing
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University of Michigan Health-Sparrow is Mid-Michigan’s premier health care organization and includes hospitals in Lansing, Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia and St. Johns, as well as UM Health-Sparrow Specialty Hospital, Care Network, the Michigan Athletic Club, and AL!VE. UM Health-Sparrow is part of University of Michigan Health. Through the dedication of our 10,000 team members, UM Health-Sparrow pursues a vision to be nationally recognized as a leader in quality and patient experience. For more information, visit UofMHealthSparrow.org.