On Tuesday, October 30, in Savannah, Georgia, Colquitt Regional Medical Center was recognized as a 2018 Technical College Foundation Association (TCFA) Benefactor of the Year in acknowledgement of their tremendous and generous support of the students, educators, and mission of Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC). Colquitt Regional Medical Center, led by CEO Jim Matney, and the Colquitt Regional Medical Foundation, led by Reverend Hugh Ward and Executive Director Nicole Gilbert, have continually championed technical education in the Southwest Georgia area. Colquitt Regional Medical Foundation Chairman, Reverend Hugh Ward, said, “Colquitt Regional Medical Foundation seeks to support initiatives that improve the quality and access to health care resources in Southwest Georgia. Southern Regional helps us do just that, so we are proud to support their programs.”
Recently, Colquitt Regional Medical Center has taken extraordinary measures to become one of SRTC’s most important partners in providing quality, up-to-date, and necessary health sciences education for the future of the region. In anticipation of the growing community’s needs, Colquitt Regional Medical Center initiated an ambitious level of support in order to ensure the sustained growth and success of health science programs at SRTC. In fiscal year 2018 alone, Colquitt Regional Medical Center contributed over $100,000 in support of SRTC students. Mr. Matney remarked, “It is an honor to be named as a Benefactor of the Year for the TCSG. We are proud to invest in programs at Southern Regional Technical College because their students are a vital part of our future. There are shortages in the healthcare workforce and SRTC does an exceptional job of identifying those careers that are in high demand and developing educational programs to meet those needs. Some of our best employees at Colquitt Regional are graduates of SRTC and we will continue to invest in scholarships and other institutional needs that ensure a qualified workforce is available for our patients."
SRTC President, Dr. Craig Wentworth, commented, “In working together toward a common goal, Colquitt Regional Medical Center and Southern Regional Technical College have developed a strong partnership for excellence in health sciences education for the communities of rural southwest Georgia. Through program expansion support, donations of state-of-the-art equipment, scholarship opportunities, and clinical support, Colquitt Regional has consistently supported SRTC in answering the call to provide the education and training necessary for the skilled healthcare workforce needed in rural southwest Georgia.”
A large portion of those funds helped provide for nursing faculty positions with the Associate of Science in Nursing program expansion. Critical shortages in healthcare professionals are a concern for not only in Colquitt County, but also for the entire southwest region of Georgia. Without adequately staffed hospitals, physicians’ offices, and other healthcare facilities, patient care would be compromised.
A substantial contribution was also given to fund provide additional scholarship opportunities to SRTC students who are entering certain healthcare fields. The nursing recruitment scholarship aims to meet the needs of nascent nurses, allowing those men and women to focus on their studies, and lessening their financial worries about the many costs associated with college. Because of Colquitt Regional’s generosity, SRTC is positioned to answer the call for highly skilled nurses through ambitious health science program expansions.
SRTC’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Amy Maison added, “Programmatic supply purchases in addition to tuition and fee charges can add up quickly and provide a potential hindrance for our students. Providing for a means to fund other expenditures allows the SRTC Foundation to remove one more obstacle between a student and their success in the healthcare field. Community partners like Colquitt Regional who support our scholarship program make our mission possible.”