Lander gift from Self Regional Healthcare establishes nursing scholarship program

Lander University receives gift from Self Regional Healthcare to establish nursing scholarship program

GREENWOOD, S.C.—Lander University and Self Regional Healthcare today announced the creation of a new nursing scholarship program at the University, established through a transformational endowed gift from the health care provider that will energize Lander’s nursing program and help address the nation’s growing need for highly trained nurses.

The Self Regional Scholars Program will provide substantial scholarships annually to 15 of Lander’s highest performing junior-level nursing students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance, community involvement and career potential, among other characteristics. As part of the gift, Self Regional Healthcare’s name will also be proudly displayed alongside Lander on the University’s future, state-of-the-art nursing facility and the recently opened nursing simulation center.

“This is monumental for our institution, our students and our community,” said Lander University President Richard Cosentino. “Lander University and Self Regional Healthcare have an enduring partnership through health care and nursing education, and this gift reaffirms our shared commitment to providing our region with quality health care and health care professionals.”

Dr. Matt Logan, SRH president and CEO, said, “We are very excited about this opportunity to partner with Lander University to support the nursing program there. This funding from Self Regional will make an already strong nursing program even stronger. It’s vital to the health and wellbeing of our community that in the decades ahead we have a reliable source of well-trained and high-quality nursing talent right here in the Lakelands, and we are so grateful for partners like Lander University working hard to see that this need is met.”

Fulfilling a Critical Health Care Need

The gift comes at a time when the health care industry is facing an unprecedented shortfall of qualified, baccalaureate-prepared nurses. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), a number of factors – including nurses nearing retirement age, changing patient demographics, and increasing stresses leading to burnout – are contributing to this national shortage, which is expected to hit the U.S. South and West regions hardest through 2030.

Closer to home, a 2017 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration ranked South Carolina fourth in the nation for states predicted to have a nursing shortage in the next decade. This trend has only been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Self Regional Scholars Program aims to curb this shortfall by building a strong pipeline of qualified nursing graduates for community and regional hospitals and health care facilities. Using a holistic application process, the Self Regional Scholars grant selection committee will each year choose 15 upper-level junior nursing majors to receive the $10,000 award, with preference given to students from Greenwood, Laurens, Edgefield, Abbeville, McCormick, Newberry and Saluda counties (GLEAMNS).

The one-year scholarship award is for juniors; and as seniors, Self Regional Scholars would be automatically accepted into Self’s already established and highly successful extern program.

“The Self Regional Scholars Program further expands Lander’s academic-practice partnership with Self Regional Healthcare, and provides Self with an additional year of contact with our best and brightest nursing students,” said Dr. Holisa Wharton, dean of Lander’s William Preston Turner School of Nursing. “The program will also help Lander expand its efforts to recruit and support diverse students from the GLEAMNS region, in the hopes that they will begin their career as baccalaureate-trained nurses in our local communities.”

This new scholarship program also comes on the heels of a revamped vision and mission for the School of Nursing, which includes “several bold and transformative