Joan Head honored recognized with new scholarship fund
Courtesy photo Rhonda Seagraves, Foundation President, Carol Hutchins, Foundation Vice President, Rachel Meyer, Foundation Board Member, Sarah Harris, Foundation Executive Director. Front Row: Joan Head, proudly displaying her plaque commemorating the Scholarship inception.
The Shoshone Medical Center Foundation recently unveiled the Joan Head Scholarship Fund.
The fund was setup to allow SMC employees a chance to receive funding to ensure that they stay as educated as possible in their particular field.
Head retired from Foundation Board last spring after several years of involvement in order to allow two new people to come into the fold, but despite all of her hard work and dedication she wasn’t interested in any sort of recognition.
“We knew we wanted to do something to honor her,” Foundation director Sarah Harris. “She didn’t want a party, she didn’t want any sort of recognition, but we knew we had to find something.”
Head, a 41 year teacher was thrilled when she heard about the scholarship, but because of her insistence on there being no pomp and circumstance for her departure, she was also happily surprised as well.
“It was real surprise to me,” Head said happily.
Head explained why she joined the hospital board as well as the Foundation in the first place.
“When I joined in 2000, I had been teaching school and had felt like teachers weren’t being appreciated,” Head stated. “I loved the staff at the hospital and I wanted to make sure that they always felt appreciated.”
The Joan Head Scholarship Fund is different than most scholarships in the sense that it isn’t for college education, but for tenured SMC employees to use to make sure that they are consistently staying with the times in the ever-changing medical field.
“The funding can go toward certifications, continuing education units (CEU’s), and other on going medical education tools,” Harris said.
The SMC Foundation will commit no less than $500 to the fund each quarter and SMC itself will match any donation up to $2,000 annually.
“We hope it is used as a tool so that SMC employees can stay up to date with the medical world,” Harris said. “Say there is a certification class being offered in Boston and one of our people has the money to attend the class, but not the money to cover their travel expenses, this can help with that.”
Applicants can apply as much as they want, and each application is reviewed by a committee that consists of SMC’s CFO, a current or retired nurse or hospital staff, the Foundation president, and the Foundation director.
Applications can be found at the Shoshone Medical Center website.
“I believe in education,” Head said. “They truly couldn’t have honored me in any better way.”