Program Awards 52 Healthcare Careers Scholarships
Anna Walhof of Orange City, a Certified Nurse Assistant with Orange City Area Health System who is studying Nursing at Dordt College, has been awarded a $3,500 scholarship from the Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation (IHERF), which is supported by the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA). Walhof is among 52 outstanding students from all over Iowa who have received assistance this year from the IHERF Health Care Careers Scholarship Program.
IHA established the IHERF Health Care Careers Scholarship Program in 2004 to help address the ongoing shortage of health care professionals and encourage young Iowans to establish or continue their careers with Iowa hospitals. The first scholarships were awarded in 2005 and now more than 450 students have benefited from the program.
In exchange for that financial support, scholarship-receiving students agree to work one year in an Iowa hospital for each year they receive an award. In this way, the scholarship program helps stabilize and enhance Iowa’s hospital workforce. Today, more than 280 scholarship recipients are working in Iowa hospitals.
Hospital leaders from all parts of the state evaluated scholarship applications from dozens of qualified students who were judged on grade-point average, a written personal statement, letters of reference, and extracurricular, community and health care-related activities.
“Because of the generosity of Iowa hospital leaders and other supporters of this program, we have presented more than $1.5 million in scholarships,” said IHA President and CEO Kirk Norris. “We are proud to help these high-achieving students fulfill their career goals at Iowa hospitals.”
Anna Walhof, who serves as a CNA in our hospital and at Prairie Ridge Care Center, is pictured here with CEO Marty Guthmiller.