Donors Gather to Celebrate Scholarship Endowment

A celebration was hosted at the home of Laura and Mark Doramus on September 10 to say “thank you” to the 135+ donors supporting the new Nursing Excellence Scholarship Endowment honoring John Jones, MD and Judy Johnson, RN.

Click here to see the album.

 As a former patient of Dr. Jones’, Laura Doramus knows firsthand how impactful excellent care can be, which is why she and her husband, Mark, helped launch the new scholarship endowment. “Johnny and Judy’s 35 years together is truly a testament to how critical a good nursing partnership can be,” Laura said.

This Scholarship Endowment is vital to ensuring that many more patients at CHI St. Vincent have the type of quality care that the Doramus family experienced.

Now, more than ever, there is a demand for RNs to acquire more advanced education in order to stay at the forefront of health care. This is especially important because research shows that advanced nursing education directly impacts better patient outcomes. Yet, many nurses, while they have the need to advance their education, simply lack the resources to do so. Enter, the Nursing Excellence Scholarship Endowment.

The cost to support our RNs is about $10,000 per scholarship, and an annual scholarship is endowed for every $200,000 invested. To date, we have raised nearly $250,000 in honor of Dr. Jones and Judy Johnson, and an additional $200,000 from the Infirmary Auxiliary, for a total of $450,000. Our goal is to achieve $600,000 by the end of 2015 in order to award three full scholarships during FY2016. It’s not too late to honor Dr. Jones and Judy and make a lasting impact on quality patient care. You may make a gift at CHIStVincent.com by clicking on the “Donate Now” tab, or by calling the Foundation office at 501-552-2380.