By Matt Wiley
If your child in high school has hopes of going to college for medical training, he or she is in luck, as Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) has donated a generous sum of money to the Pasco Education Foundation (PEF) for scholarships in the medical field, the second large donation Wesley Chapel’s only hospital has made in recent months.
During the June 17 Pasco County School Board (PCSB) meeting at the School Board’s District Office on Land O’Lakes Blvd., FHWC chief financial officer and interim chief executive officer Mike Lukens and FHWC director of marketing Tracy Clouser presented a check for $150,000 to PEF vice president of operations Stacey Capogrosso.
“The scholarship gifts were part of (FHWC)’s commitment upon opening to support the community and the future health of our residents,” Clouser says. “The hospital’s gift of $150,000 to the Foundation allows them to support two very important things: the people of this community and health care, not only now but in the future,” says PEF VP of operations Stacey Capogrosso.”
The Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel Health Scholarship fund provides funds for education and training for tomorrow’s health care professionals. This fund includes scholarships distributed immediately and an endowment portion so that the impact on this community will continue in perpetuity.
The Foundation disbursed $2,500 each to four graduating Pasco County seniors at our Scholarship Awards Banquet on April 10, 2014. The Foundation will award an additional $40,000 over the next four years and the remaining $100K was endowed and as the investment grows we will continue to distribute scholarships to aspiring health care professionals.” Eight Pasco County schools offer health/medical career academies, including Wiregrass Ranch High in Wesley Chapel.
Capogrosso adds that this endowment fund, “is one of the three largest the Foundation has received in its 23-year history. We are truly grateful to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel for their generosity, commitment to excellence and helping us achieve our goal of advancing student achievement and preparing Pasco’s students to be college, career and life ready. We are proud to call Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel a partner; a partner in the investment of our students, schools and the future of our community.
FHWC’s donation to PEF brings the hospital’s local scholarship donation total to $500,000 this year, as the hospital already donated $350,000 to Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) during the school’s dedication ceremony for the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in April.
“(FHWC) has a legacy of helping people get, and stay, well by providing programs that improve the health and wellness of our community,” Clouser explains. “That commitment is why (FHWC) built a community Health & Wellness Center on its campus. It’s why the hospital provides free health screenings and educational programs and supports the county’s Mobile Medical Care Unit. And, it is what led the hospital to support (PEF) and (PHSC).”
Clouser explains that both scholarship gifts provide funds for education and training for tomorrow’s health care professionals and include scholarships distributed immediately and an endowment portion so that, “the impact on this community will continue in perpetuity.”
FHWC’s donation is available for students attending New Tampa, Wesley Chapel, Land O’Lakes and Lutz area high schools and pursuing college degrees in a health care-related field of study.
Clouser also explains that the PHSC scholarship fund also is open to students from the surrounding area who are attending the Porter campus and who are enrolled in one of PHSC’s Medical or Allied Health Programs.
For more information about FHWC and PEF, please visit FloridaHospital.com/WesleyChapel and Pasco EducationFoundation.org.
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