Spartz will not seek re-election
Also, Ivy Tech alum enjoying career in surgical tech; Tuesday@TheTech is Feb. 28
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The campaign of 5th District US Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (IN-05) released an announcement Feb. 3 that she would not be running for re-election in 2024. Spartz represents Hamilton, Grant, Delaware, Madison, Tipton, and eastern Howard County.
The Ukrainian-born Spartz had been talked about as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by Sen. David Braun, who is leaving that position to run for Indiana Governor during the 2024 cycle. Spartz made clear in her Facebook page post that, “I need to spend more time with my high school girls back home, so I will not run for any office in 2024.”
Spartz, a Noblesville businesswoman and former instructor at IU Kelley School of Business, emigrated from Ukraine in 2000 and became a citizen in 2006.
Appointed to the Indiana Senate in 2017 to replace resigning Sen. Luke Kenley, Spartz ran in 2019 for the 5th US Congressional District then held by retiring Rep. Susan Brooks. In a close race, Spartz beat former Indiana Rep. Christina Hale, a Democrat.
Spartz is the first Ukrainian-born female member of the U.S. Congress and was raised during the time Ukraine was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Her upbringing in the former Communist bloc country affected her politics.
Staunchly against American social programs such as the Affordable Care Act, Spartz was quoted as saying, “Of all of the countries in the world, our country put so much against this socialistic idea that it's crazy for me to see how quickly we made the turn to the left."
Spartz became part of a group of new representatives calling themselves “The Freedom Force” to counter the influence of what they considered leftist leaning Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, who were dubbed “The Squad.”
In 2022, Washington, D.C. staffing site legistorm.com rated Spartz’s office as having the highest turnover of staff in the House at that time due to what sources said was “an unhealthy work environment” caused by what former staffers said was “an unpredictable boss whose temper can rocket from tepid to boiling.” Spartz herself admitted that her work style is “not for everyone.”
Spartz has outwardly disagreed at times with Republican Congressional leadership. After winning re-election in 2022, Spartz surprised presumptive Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy during the drawn-out Speaker election in January by voting “present” seven times, temporarily denying McCarthy the congressional vote count needed to capture the House Speaker’s position.
Afterwards, Spartz was initially against a Republican-led resolution removing Rep. Omar from the Minnesotan’s place on the House Foreign Relations Committee in retaliation for the previous Democratic-controlled Congress removing Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Spartz was also one of the first U.S. officials to visit Ukraine after the Russian invasion of 2022 when she and Sen. Steve Daines travelled unannounced to Bucha. Spartz has been critical of the way humanitarian aid has been delivered to Ukraine and has scolded the administration of Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelenskyy for “playing politics and theater.”
Bartrum enjoying successful career in surgical technology
When Heather Bartrum was a student at Ivy Tech Kokomo, the professor leading the Surgical Technology program knew she had a lot of potential.
“Heather was a great student,” says program chair Jia Hardimon-Eddington. “She jumped right in. She worked hard. She helped other students and she contributed to everyone’s success. I knew she would be a great ‘surg tech’ and I’m so proud of all she is doing.”
Today, nearly 11 years after graduation and certification, Heather does work full-time as a surgical technologist, serving as “private scrub” for Dr. Thomas Reilly, an orthopedic surgeon in Kokomo who specializes in the care of patients with spinal and nerve disorders of the neck and back, and working at the Indiana Spine Group in Carmel. It’s a job she loves … but not one she ever thought about before a life-changing mid-life accident and a spiritual “battle” that led her to Ivy Tech Community College.
Heather was born and raised in Howard County. After graduating from Western High School in 1992, she attended Indiana University Kokomo for a year before going to work, first as an “eye tech” at New Vision Optical and then as a teller at First National Bank. Marriage came in 1996; a daughter arrived in 1997 and a son followed in 2000. She was a full-time mom, later working part-time at Northwestern Schools when the youngest went to kindergarten.
Then, in 2008, came that life-changing accident. While washing her dad’s pick-up truck, she fell from the back and shattered her leg. “Surgery … and three months, no weight bearing. It was a humbling experience,” Heather remembers. “That’s when God first spoke to me. He told me to go into surgery. I was called to help other people going into surgery.”
Heather says she fought the idea for months, but, she adds with a smile, God eventually won and her faith took her forward. She had been out of high school for more than 15 years; she says she didn’t think she was smart enough. She knew nothing about surgical technology or what it entailed, but she came to Ivy Tech to see what was available and was soon enrolled in the pre-requisite courses for the program.
“The professors were all phenomenal,” she said, remembering among others a great math teacher and her English professor, Ethan Heicher, who is now Ivy Tech Kokomo’s chancellor. “I wasn’t just a number in the class. The professors helped me. I got into some great study groups.”
With her pre-reqs achieved, Heather was admitted into the surg tech program, then located in one room in the Inventrek building on East Firmin Street. She recently visited Ivy Tech’s new Surgical Technology laboratory in the Health Professions Center on the transformed campus at 1815 E. Morgan St. and talked about her very different experience.
“Oh, my gosh, it would be awesome to go through the program as a student in this new facility,” Heather said. “They get so much more hands-on experience. We had a big classroom but the lab was very small, just one bed to practice on …” The new Surg Tech lab includes four surgical suites fully outfitted in current technology that offer training opportunities to the same number of students that were in Heather’s class.
“Jia helped me a lot,” Heather said. “When I started, I didn’t do very well testing. Jia would go over the tests with me afterwards. I could answer the questions when talking to her and she helped me figure out what I needed to do to capture the correct answers on the tests.” She also credits the partnerships Ivy Tech has with local medical facilities to offer clinical rotations and internships, particularly citing Joyce Hughes, now retired, who, as Heather’s preceptor at Dukes Memorial Hospital, provided great experience.
Heather graduated from the program in 2012, 20 years after graduating from high school, earning an Associate of Applied Science degree in Surgical Technology and passing her certification exam on the first try. She was hired as a certified surgical technologist at St. Joseph Hospital and within six weeks was working with Dr. Reilly. Heather offers two pieces of advice to those who follow her. First, always verify the sizes and dates of equipment and material used in the operating room; don’t rely on others. Second, “if you ever mess up, don’t beat yourself up. Write it up, think about how you can do it better and then don’t ever do that again.”
She encourages others to follow their dreams. “By the grace of God, a lot of studying and determination, and pushing yourself, you can do it,” she says. In addition to her “day job,” Heather works with her father raising cattle and has been involved with 4-H in Howard and Carroll counties.
“I just love my job. I feel like I’m doing something not just for the person going into surgery but also for my community,” Heather adds. “As I’ve told my kids, a job is something you get and have to go to. A career is something you don’t mind getting up and going to every day, something you enjoy and that is fulfilling to you. I love my job and I don’t regret anything. There are days that are hard, that you’re tired and worn out and your body hurts. But I am blessed.”
Tuesday@TheTech
Prospective students can find out more about Ivy Tech Kokomo’s Surgical Technology program, and a multitude of other programs, at the next “Tuesday@TheTech” open house set for 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Health Professions Center on the campus at 1815 E. Morgan St.
Here’s some basic information about the Ivy Tech “Surg Tech” program from program chair Jia Hardimon-Eddington:
Through the online application process, new students are accepted annually (currently a class of 12 starts each fall; plans are to increase that to 15 soon).
Nine program prerequisite courses must be completed before admission to the program.
After acceptance, the Surgical Technology program includes three semesters of work in one calendar year (fall, spring and summer).
Students complete more than 900 hours of clinical experience at regional hospitals and surgery centers.
Students must complete a minimum of 120 surgical cases in four surgical specialty areas.
Most students are employed within an area surgical department before the end of the program.
100 percent of the Class of 2022 passed the certification examination.
Opportunities in surgical technology include traveling abroad or specializing in one surgical area, as Heather Bartrum has specialized in spinal surgery.
For more information and how to register for Tuesday at the Tech, go to ivytech.edu/tuesdays or email kokomo-enrollment@ivytech.edu. Walk-ins are welcome.