FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Mon Health System and Fairmont State University have launched the Mon Health Scholars Program & the F2M Partnership. The partnership will offer traditional ASN and LPN to ASN students a scholarship and a promise of employment with Mon Health System after completing their degree.
A recent report by Study.com ranked the Fairmont State University School of Nursing in the top 50 in the nation.
“Students pursuing nursing degrees in the north central West Virginia region have the greatest opportunities right in their own backyards,” said David Goldberg, President and CEO of Mon Health System.
“From academic hospitals to comprehensive, advanced care community hospitals, this area provides the very best options for nursing careers,” added Dr. Krystal Atkinson, Chief Nursing Executive of Mon Health System.
Nursing students in the F2M cohort will earn their ASN at Fairmont State University School of Nursing, fulfill the majority of their clinical rotations within Mon Health System and, following graduation, are guaranteed employment within the health system if they pass all requirements for employment.
The scholarship also provides money for tuition, textbooks, or academic fees.
“It really takes that pressure off of a nurse to focus on their clinical skills, keeping up their skills academically,”Dr. Atkinson said,”Then oh my goodness, I have the financial burden and I have to find a job.”
Mon Health Systems has multiple locations throughout the area and the program will create a pipeline of trained, talented workers to care for their patients.
“We’ve got great talent here and we want to be able to keep that talent locally,”Dr. Atkinson said,”So our communities are the benefactors of the great skill we have in the nursing program.”
Dr. Atkinson says the clinical side of being a nurse is only a small part of what patient and their family take away from a stay or procedure at Mon Health Systems.
“We need to lower their anxiety, and part of that is reaching out to that patient and their family and making sure we treat that person like it was our family member in that bed,”Dr. Atkinson said.
“The F2M partnership is a true win-win arrangement,” Mirta M. Martin, president of Fairmont State University, said. “Through the Mon Health Scholars Program, the University will provide well-trained, passionate nursing graduates and Mon Health System will not only provide scholarships that help defray the cost of earning a degree, but they’ll also guarantee employment at a top-ranked health organization. This partnership will have a huge impact beyond our campus – it benefits the region and strengthens our talent pipeline, keeping our extraordinary home-grown talent living and working in our communities.”
The Fairmont State University School of Nursing requires that students interested in Mon Health Scholars program complete the school’s regular admissions process. Once admitted to the nursing program, students will be provided information about the Mon Heath Scholars Program.
Scholarship candidates must be in good standing with the university and the program is also available for students trying to upgrade their credentials. The graduates will be recognized and pinned with a Mon Health System insignia during Fairmont State’s White Coat Ceremony held each semester.
The program is supported financially by the Mon Health Medical Center Foundation.
“Throughout the years they have definitely supported us,”Dr. Atkinson said,”It’s so good they joined in with this partnership to support our community.”