A recent gift to the Lane Community College Nursing Scholarship Endowment will help more students stay in school, graduate and become nurses in their communities.
Alan Yordy, former President and CEO of PeaceHealth, and his wife Joan Kropf are passionate about nursing education. They started the endowment 12 years ago and their recent donation has increased the fund to $600,000. It’s named in honor of long-time pediatric nurse, Margaret Larsen.
LCC Foundation director Wendy Jett said the additional funding will allow the college to award multiple nursing scholarships starting as soon as 2021.
“The pandemic has shined a spotlight on how important the work of our nurses is,” said Jett. “This gift will not only affect the students who receive the scholarships but the thousands of people throughout Lane County who they will eventually serve.”
106 students are admitted to LCC nursing programs each year. The two-year registered nursing program costs about $32,897, and the one-year licensed practical nurse program costs about $14,530.
Jett says graduates consistently achieve high pass rates on their licensure exams and the majority stay in the community as nurses in the local workforce.
Lane Community College holds the license for KLCC.