News accounts of the debt load students acquire while attending college have ballooned over the past year, highlighting how important grants and scholarships are in helping to keep such loans at a minimum. When it comes to careers in health care, they are arguable even more important since additional education is often needed beyond Bachelor of Science degrees. “This is why we are committed to helping area high school graduates and college students as much as we can,” said Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) Chief Nursing Officer Jane McConkey. “To be sure we are as fair as we can be in the selection process; over the past few years we have had the Nebraska Rural Health Association (NRHA) board judge the applicants on their merits.”
Box Butte Health Foundation (BBHF) Director Brooke Shelmadine added, “Education is one of the four fundamental needs identified by Box Butte General Hospital that the health foundation seeks to fulfill. BBGH works hard to ‘grow its own’ specialized healthcare workforce. Investing in our youth and employees’ education has proven to be a successful tactic in growing our workforce. The foundation’s ultimate goal is to ensure that BBGH remains a leader and innovator in health care delivery and community wellness. One way in which we do that is by investing in high quality health care professionals.”
Ms. McConkey recently announced a total of $11,200 from BBGH and BBHF was awarded to 13 individuals; $5,000 and $6,200 respectively. A total of 22 applications were reviewed this year by the NRHA. Two of the NRHA board members commented on the quality of the applicants.
Jon Borton, Vice President, Educational Services for the Nebraska Hospital Association, said, “I was pleased to review a very impressive group of BBGH scholarship applicants who obviously are demonstrating a strong commitment to health care. The scholarships will help this talented group of young people reach their career aspirations while simultaneously help build health care professionals in rural areas of Nebraska.”
Marty Fattig, CEO of Nemaha County Hospital, was just as enthusiastic about the applicants. “I always enjoy reviewing and scoring the scholarship applications from Box Butte General Hospital because, first of all, the quality of the applicants is exceptional!” he exclaimed. “The students applying for the scholarships are the type of people any community would want to return and raise a family. Secondly, it is wonderful to see how the hospital has gone to great efforts to introduce students to careers in healthcare. The health careers club and the job shadowing that the hospital does have a great deal of positive influence on these students choosing to enter a health related career. Thanks for the opportunity to be introduced to these students in this way.”
Using the NRHA’s recommendations, BBGH awarded four high school students $500 each: Ellie Applegarth, AHS pre physician assistant, CSC RHOP; Sydnie Hiemstra, AHS pre nursing, CSC; Regg Strotheide, Hay Springs HS, pre physical therapy, CSC RHOP; and Dawson Johnson, AHS pre pharmacy, UN-K. BBGH awarded three college students $1,000 each: Amy Watson, AHS attending UN-L Speech pathology; Patrick Jespersen, HHS, attending UNMC nursing; and Ashley Johnson, AHS attending nursing in Lincoln.
BBHF awarded the $1,200 Jane Cox Memorial and Sandy Bowen Molko Memorial scholarships to Kayla James, AHS attending BryanLGH nursing. Five BBHF $1,000 scholarships were given to Sally Bryner, RN, BBGH employee attending UNMC nurse practitioner program; Mikenzie Nordeen, attending South Dakota University pre pharmacy; Amanda Hare, attending UN-L pre pharmacy; Bridget Scherbarth, attending UNMC Physical Therapy; and Darin Bottger, attending UN-L pre Physical Therapy.
Several of the scholarship winners commented on their awards and plans for the future.
AHS graduate Dawson Johnson plans to use his $500 scholarship mostly on books he’ll be using to obtain his BS degree in Biology while attending the University of Nebraska-Kearney. “That will help me in my plan to go on to medical school to obtain my degree in pharmacy,” he said. “I got interested in pharmacy after sitting down with the head pharmacy department person at a college and it sounded very interesting. I’m looking forward to shadowing in that field at the hospital.” He thanked BBGH for helping defray costs. “I’ll put it to good use,” he said.
Amy Watson, in her last year attending UN-L, has been a multiple recipient of BBGH and BBHF scholarships. “Box Butte General Hospital and Health Foundation have been great supporters of me throughout the years to help relieve the financial burden in seeking my Masters in Speech Pathology at UN-L,” she said. “I’m especially grateful for the experience of working at BBGH with The Rehab & Wellness Center’s Speech Pathologist Martha Douglas for the past five years. It’s been great to work with a professional. As for my future, I’m graduating in May with my Masters and I’m very hopeful to return home to a rural community that has given so much to me.”
Patrick Jespersen, a Hemingford High School graduate currently enrolled in the UNMC College of Nursing program, said he would be using his $1,000 scholarship to go toward tuition and fees, such as books. “With the ever growing cost of college education, especially when going into medical fields, the scholarship is going to be extremely beneficial and a major help,” he said. “BBGH’s generosity is definitely helping make my chosen vocation a possibility.” Mr. Jespersen is a summer intern at BBGH.
The scholarships become even more important to graduate students seeking to further the careers they already have in health care.
Sally Bryner, RN, BSN, OB Coordinator at BBGH, is studying to become a Nurse Practitioner, with another year of study left to obtain her Master Degree. Ms. Bryner said obtaining a Master Degree as a Nurse Practitioner can run as high as $30,000, not including expenses from obtaining a Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing. The scholarships she received this year and last from the hospital has enabled her keep her loan obligation well below that average. “I think it’s just awesome the hospital and its Foundation are willing to support scholarships for people going back to school,” she said. “Graduate Scholarships are extremely hard to find, so any support is very much appreciated. I am obtaining my Master Degree through the University of Nebraska College of Nursing, and will use the scholarship on tuition.” Reinforcing Ms. Shelmadine’s comment about how the scholarships help the hospital “grow our own” health care professions, Ms. Bryner said she plans to stay in Box Butte County after she passes her Nurse Practitioner boards.
The BBGH and BBHF scholarships are offered each spring to surrounding area students and graduates.