BCH Employee Receives IHERF Scholarship

Congratulations to Joshua Dodd, an employee of Boone County Hospital, who is studying nursing at the Des Moines Area Community College, for being awarded a $3,500 scholarship from the Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation (IHERF), which is supported by the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA). He is among 34 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 nearly 400 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 200 scholarship recipients are working in Iowa hospitals.

“Because of the generosity of Iowa hospital leaders and other supporters of this program, we have presented more than $1.1 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.”

Pictured:  Joshua and BCH CEO Joe Smith