RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — The further removed we get from the COVID-19 pandemic, the more silver linings to have emerged from that terrible time come into focus. One of those continues to be front and center on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University.
On Wednesday, inside the university’s sprawling science complex, three more people were awarded the Anthem Rural Medicine Scholarship, bringing the total to 16 since this partnership between the school and Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield formed a few years ago.
“I give Anthem so much credit for seeing a challenge in communities they serve and investing to try to solve those,” said EKU President, Dr. David McFaddin.
The partnership, which has now been able to award 16 students a scholarship to advance their careers in medicine to help serve some of the most underserved area of the specifically in eastern Kentucky. The Commonwealth is operating with a nursing shortage that’s just shy of 20 percent. This partnership is helping to close the gap, while allowing those in the medical field to advance their careers.
“As I've had the chance to do these four years in a row, I hear testimony from students, their personal experience and how much it means. It’s really tremendous,” Dr. McFaddin added.
Christa Carlin is one of this year’s scholarship recipients. She’s a labor and delivery nurse, who was inspired to advance in that concentration by another nurse.
“My dad passed away from COVID, and I ended up getting COVID shortly after, so I went to The Little Clinic and met a nurse practitioner who was amazing,” Carlin recalled. “She said, ‘can I hug you?’ She just hugged me and reminded me of the basics of nursing that so often get forgotten,” she continued.
So far, the partnership between EKU and Anthem BC/BS has generated $400,000 dollars in scholarship money, with Anthem’s announcement of an additional $100,000 coming during Wednesday’s presentation ceremony.
