IHA Awards Scholarship to MHP Nurse Tonya Johannes
Mahaska Health Partnership Nurse Tonya Johannes has been awarded a $3,000 from the Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation (IHERF), which is supported by the Iowa Hospital Association.
MAHASKA COUNTY – Mahaska Health Partnership Nurse Tonya Johannes has been awarded a $3,000 from the Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation (IHERF), which is supported by the Iowa Hospital Association.
Johannes, who lives in Oskaloosa, currently serves as MHP’s Education Coordinator and is also an adjunct clinical instructor for Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Nursing at Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo with a family nurse practitioner focus. She will also continue on for her doctorate in nursing at the University of Iowa starting in August 2015.
According to MHP CEO Jay Christensen, a past president of the IHA Board of Trustees, Johannes is among 34 outstanding students from across Iowa who has received assistance this year from the IHERF Healthcare Careers Scholarship Program. “We are very proud of Tonya,” Christensen said. “She has continued working fulltime while pursuing her advanced degree and helping foster the next generation of talent in her field. Her hard work and dedication should be commended; this scholarship could not have gone to someone more deserving.”
IHA established the IHERF Health Care Careers Scholarship Program in 2004 to help address the ongoing shortage of healthcare professionals and encourage young Iowans to establish or continue their careers with Iowa hospitals. The first scholarships were awarded in 2005 and now 300 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.
Christensen said hospital leaders from all parts of the state evaluated scholarship applications from nearly 150 qualified students who were judged on grade-point average, a written personal statement, letters of reference, and extracurricular, community and healthcare-related activities.
