Illustration via Getty Images
Boosting Numbers in Nursing
In the face of a nationwide shortage of nurses, HCA Healthcare offers scholarships to nursing students
HCA Healthcare Capital Division is offering $800,000 in scholarships for students to pursue nursing careers in central and southwest Virginia and New Hampshire. These scholarships will help support students becoming a licensed practical or vocational nurse or a registered nurse within HCA Healthcare. Nursing students currently enrolled in a Board of Nursing-accredited program are eligible for the $7,000 per-student LPN/LVN scholarship and the $14,000 RN scholarship. There is a one-year full-time employment commitment in an HCA Healthcare facility upon graduation. Candidates are also eligible for signing bonuses at the time of hire.
“The nationwide nursing shortage continues to challenge the health care industry,” says Erin Keister, HCA Healthcare Capital Division chief nursing executive, in a press release. “We know that education is key to excellence.”
HCA is one of the largest employers of nurses in the United States, with more than 98,000 nurses throughout 17 facilities in New Hampshire and Virginia. The health care company has been working to fill gaps in the nursing workforce through a combination of programs including recruiting incentives, retention programs, and the opening of the Galen College of Nursing Richmond campus earlier this year.
For more information and to apply for a scholarship, visit form.jotform.com/222085746874062.
Photo courtesy VCU Massey Cancer Center
Equitable Treatment for All
Expanding access for underserved communities is a priority for Massey Cancer Center
Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center is working to make its care more accessible to patients living in underserved communities.
Serving as the National Program Office for the Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care, Massey plans to use grants funded by the Merck Foundation to improve the coordination of patient care from diagnosis through survivorship; strengthen patient engagement in treatment decisions; and build community partnerships that address barriers to health care.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to making sure that cancer care is equitable,” says Dr. Robert Winn, director of the cancer center, in a press release. “We are supporting diverse approaches — driven by local community needs — to reduce the unacceptable disparities in cancer care. We hope to improve the lives of people living with cancer and help transform how health systems deliver care so that it meets the medical and social needs of patients.”
Medarva Management
Taylan “Ty” Bozkurt has been appointed president and CEO at Medarva Healthcare. Bozkurt will oversee all operations, including ambulatory surgery, imaging, a low-vision center and the Medarva Foundation.
“Ty’s background aligned well,” says Peter Pastore, chair of the Medarva Healthcare’s board, in a press release. “We wanted a successful health care leader, but we also wanted to continue with a person with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to innovation in both patient care and technology.”
Making Moves
HCA Virginia has named Beth Matish the new chief executive officer of Johnston-Willis Hospital. For 20 years, Matish has been part of the senior leadership team for Henrico Doctors’ Hospitals, serving as the chief executive officer of Retreat Doctors’ Hospital since 2016.
Also, HCA Virginia has brought the first OB-GYN to New Kent County, Dr. Maria Espiridion. Espiridion is an obstetrician and gynecologist affiliated with Henrico Doctors’ Hospital and has begun treating patients at OB/GYN Associates within Chickahominy Family Physicians’ Quinton location.
A pediatric interview room at Bon Secours (Photo courtesy Bon Secours)
Violence Response
The newly renamed Violence Response Team for Bon Secours includes victim advocates who support patients from hospital care to their transition home. The team works in a suite at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital that opened in 2021. The 3,800-square-foot unit underwent a $650,000 renovation, funded through donors and the Bon Secours Richmond Health Care Foundation, and it is now more than triple the size of the space used by the team when it was known as the Forensic Nursing Program.