For Immediate Release
Contact: Lea Ann Scales
Assistant Vice President
of Public Relations and Marketing
(508) 929-8018
February 2, 2012
(Worcester, Mass.) -- The Alumni Association of the former Worcester City Hospital School of Nursing has donated $40,000 to the Worcester State Foundation to establish an endowed scholarship for graduate nursing students.
The gift expands the Alumni Association’s support of Worcester State University nursing students. The association previously established an endowed scholarship for WSU undergraduate nursing students. This latest effort was spearheaded by Cheryl Ferrante, vice president of the Alumni Association and a 2010 graduate of WSU’s Master of Science in Nursing program.
The funding for both scholarships originated from a bequest made to Worcester City Hospital School of Nursing by Annie Vigeant, a 1914 graduate. She left a generous legacy to her Alumni Association in order to provide her school’s students and graduates with scholarships that would enable them to further their education in the field of nursing.
When the school closed its doors in 1992, the association’s Board of Directors decided to share Vigeant’s generosity with nursing students at Worcester State University and UMass Memorial Medical School.
“We are deeply grateful for Cheryl Ferrante, who worked very hard to make this happen, and the Worcester City Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association for their generous support of our graduate students in the Community and Public Health Nursing programs” said Stephanie Chalupka ’80, Ed.D., RN, PHCNS-BC, FAAOHN, chair of the Dr. Lillian R. Goodman Department of Nursing. “They are proud to carry on the tradition of the nurses of Worcester City Hospital in caring for the most vulnerable populations.”
Established in 1883, Worcester City Hospital School of Nursing was one of the earliest nursing programs in the United States. It was dedicated to the preparation of registered nurses who could meet the needs of the sick and indigent locally, nationally, and throughout the world. Almost 3,500 men and women graduated from “City” and many today continue to provide skilled nursing care in a wide variety of settings.
Applications will be available at the Dr Lillian R. Goodman Department of Nursing, room 222 in the Ghosh Science and Technology Center, in March. For more information, contact the department at 508-929-8129.
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