DAYTON, Ohio — COVID-19 cases may be down statewide, but there's still a growing need for hospital workers. One college said not enough students are going into one medical field that could help.

Garrett Robinson knew he wanted a career in the medical field.

“I like focusing on one aspect of the body and mastering that, so that’s what kind of drew me to it,” said Robinson. 

He studied at Sinclair College in Dayton. He practiced in labs to help and went into a field that helps people breathe. He wanted to become a respiratory therapist.

“You get to work with all the machines, the ventilators, everything you’re gonna see in real life in the hospital,” said Robinson. 

It wasn’t long before he started working in a hospital, at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, as a student respiratory therapist. 

But he said nothing could prepare him for the pandemic he was thrown into when he started last year.

“We would go out with bigger than normal patient loads. We would split them with all the therapists in the building,” said Robinson.

It's the reason they need more people like him. 

But the dean of Health Sciences at the college said there are not enough students going into respiratory therapy. 

“The pandemic has really heightened the need for respiratory therapists for our region and really nationally,” said Rena Sebor, the Health Sciences dean at Sinclair College. 

But the college is doing something about it. 

They’re expanding the program, taking more students in to study respiratory therapy. 

“Students are here working for two years and then working in the clinical sites to have their clinicals done and we have a 100% employment rate,” said Sebor.  

Garett Robinson graduated from the college in May and is working his way up at the hospital, to go from student to registered respiratory therapist hoping to make a difference.

“It gives me hope that more will get interested in the field. I love the medical field. I love helping people,” said Robinson.