There's a shortage of health care workers serving the country's aging population, with the number of specialists shrinking. Health Reporter Erin Billups takes a look at the problem and one possible solution.

Mayra Hernandez couldn't walk after she had a stroke in June, so she was moved to the New Jewish Home on the Upper West Side.

"I didn't want to walk," Hernandez said.

She was afraid of falling, and wouldn't try — until she met 17-year-old Enrique Stevenson.

"She makes me happy when I'm here," said Stevenson. "We're here to take care of them, to help feel like they're at home."

Stevenson is part of the nursing home's Geriatric Career Development Program, which trains at-risk high schoolers how to care for aging New Yorkers. By the time they graduate, they are Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs.)

"These are students that have not normally had the right opportunities to actually be successful," said John Cruz, the director of Geriatric Career Development for the nursing home. "A lot of the schools that they come from have graduation rates between 40 and 80 percent."

The program is Jewish Home's unique approach to tackling the shortage of geriatric health care workers.

While the number of nurses and nursing assistants continues to grow, it's not keeping pace with the aging, retiring population.

There are fewer doctors training to care for the elderly. In 2015, there was a 21 percent drop in those enrolled in geriatric residency programs.

"We expect the elderly population in New York City to double by 2050," Cruz said. "We're going to need to have more trained professionals to care for them. So, by exposing young people — 15- and 16-year-olds — and having them work with this population not only creates appreciation for this population, but it will hopefully gear them towards a career in gerontology."

Students are also mentored by their seniors. They're tutored weekly, and are coached through the college application process.

As a result, 99 percent of the 517 who have completed the program since it began in 2006 have also graduated from high school, and 94 percent of them are either in college or employed. 40 of the students now work for Jewish Home.

"I'm more dedicated to school and Jewish Home," Stevenson said. "I like the elderly people."

And while Hernandez wouldn't walk for us, she has for Stevenson.

"I'm working at it because of him," Hernandez said. "It made me feel good, because I want to do it for my sake and for his sake."

His energy, she says, keeps her going.