The grant from Connecticut Health Horizons will deliver tuition assistance, recruitment of faculty, and the launch of the innovative Health Partners Scholars program.
Fairfield University's Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies has been awarded $2.45 million from the Connecticut Health Horizons initiative, a three-year higher education program launched by Governor Ned Lamont. The program is designed to address the shortage of nursing and behavioral health providers in the state of Connecticut.
Nationally ranked Fairfield Egan is committed to addressing the statewide shortage of healthcare workers through the education of the next generation of nurses and behavioral health workers, to ensure high-quality healthcare for patients and families.
”We are beyond grateful to the state of Connecticut and our clinical partners at the Yale New Haven Health System, Stamford, and Griffin Hospitals for investing in the education of nursing and health professionals. The Egan School’s exemplary history of advancing health education that impacts the lives of patients and families will be expanded with the support of this funding. We welcome amplification of our strategic clinical partnerships to provide high-quality educational experiences that will improve the quality of life for those we serve throughout Connecticut,” said Egan School Dean Meredith Wallace Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN.
The grant will deliver tuition assistance to Connecticut-based students enrolled in Fairfield’s bachelor of science in nursing, psychiatric nursing practioner, and master's in social work programs. Faculty recruitment and retention, and the launch of the innovative Health Partners Scholars program will also be supported by the grant.
The $35 million CT Health Horizons initiative is a collaborative partnership that includes Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU), the Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS), multiple state agencies, the University of Connecticut (UCONN), the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges (CCIC), and the Connecticut Hospital Association. The goal of the program is to address the state’s workforce shortage in these critical areas through tuition assistance, recruitment and retention of faculty, and innovative programs to promote partnerships between employers and colleges and universities to build career pathways. CT Health Horizons was approved as part of the state budget bill that Governor Lamont recently signed, and is funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act Money.
Learn more about the Egan School at fairfield.edu/egan.
