Photo: Maskot/Getty Images
To help address a shortage of nurses in Pennsylvania, York-based WellSpan Health has launched a new financial assistance program called the WellSpan Scholars program, a collaboration with talent and recruitment network Scholars Network.
Enrolled students who commit to joining WellSpan after completing their education can receive as much as $65,000 in financial assistance, depending on their role, the company said.
WellSpan said the program allows students to focus on building their skills and advance their healthcare careers by alleviating the burden of educational debt.
WellSpan Health is a physician-led, integrated health system of eight hospitals in central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT
WellSpan described the nursing shortage in Pennsylvania as among the most severe in the country, citing Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania data showing the commonwealth is expected to have a shortfall of 20,000 registered nurses by 2026.
The WellSpan Scholars program is a key part of the company's plan to develop a pipeline of qualified nurses who are rooted in the local community. In 2024, WellSpan launched the Jersey College School of Nursing to create a new pathway for skilled talent and a bolstered workforce to meet rising care demands. The system said it also maintains a number of partnerships with local colleges to support nursing careers.
In addition to nurses, the program is also eligible for medical imaging professionals and physical therapists. It provides financial support and connects students with the WellSpan team they will be joining before they graduate.
Through the collaboration with the Scholars Network, Wellspan said the investment will emphasize local decision-making, with company oversight, to train and deploy its future team members.
Nearly 100 students have applied for the program since its launch earlier this spring, said WellsSpan.
THE LARGER TREND
In January, WellSpan was one of 17 health systems that launched the Truveta Genome Project to create what Truveta called the largest, most diverse database of genotypic and phenotypic information ever assembled.
The health systems, with Illumina and Regeneron, have invested $320M in Truveta preferred equity at a valuation exceeding $1 billion, according to Truveta.
A key component of the project is the Truveta Language Model, an AI system designed to process and standardize large volumes of genetic and clinical data, built on Microsoft's Azure. By applying AI to this dataset, researchers hope to better understand genetic contributions to health and disease.
Truveta and its member health systems will partner with the Regeneron Genetics Center to sequence the exomes of the first 10 million volunteers. This is expected to expand to include data on tens of millions of consented and de-identified volunteers.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.