 |
| Dr. Don Tomas (front left), President of Southwestern Community College, and Steve Heatherly, President and CEO of Harris Regional Hospital, sign a memorandum of understanding to establish the SNAP program on June 11 at the college's Jackson Campus in Sylva. Behind Dr. Tomas and Heatherly are, from left, Dr. Thom Brooks, Executive Vice President for Instruction and Student Services at SCC; Lucretia Stargell, Vice President, Business and Service Line Development at Harris; Matthew Seagroves, CFO at Harris; Crystal Gordon, CNO at Harris; Dr. Mitch Fischer, Dean of Health Sciences at SCC; and Becky Wilkes, HR Director at Harris. |
Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital are pleased to join Southwestern Community College in announcing a new program designed to support the clinical education of nurses and certified nursing aides in the region, and to develop the local economy by retaining talent to serve patients in the hospitals.
In the Student Nurse Apprentice Program, known as ‘SNAP,’ Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital will provide full tuition support for two nursing students and two nurse aide students per calendar year in exchange for a commitment to working at the hospitals. The nursing commitment is three years, and the nurse aide commitment is one year.
“Southwestern Community College is our partner in training healthcare professionals who will join us in delivering on our mission of ‘Making Communities Healthier’,” said Steve Heatherly, CEO of Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital. “We believe our new SNAP partnership will help local nursing students realize their professional dreams and ensure we keep the best clinical staff close to home.”
Harris Regional Hospital, Swain Community Hospital, and Southwestern Community College have a longstanding relationship on multiple levels, including collaboration on clinical rotations for health sciences students, emergency preparedness training, emergency medical technician training, and support for the SCC Foundation.
“We’re excited to partner with Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital on SNAP," said Dr. Don Tomas, SCC President. “This apprenticeship program demonstrates our longstanding commitment to train highly skilled community healthcare providers, and ensures we will all have the best-trained nursing professionals attending to our families when they’re in need of medical care.”
To apply for SNAP funding visit http://www.myharrisregional.com/careers/snap or call 828.586.7102.
For information about SCC’s Nursing and Nurse Aide programs, contact Sandra Seibert, Administrative Assistant for Health Sciences, at 828.339.4305 or s_seibert@southwesterncc.edu.
