PORT ANGELES – To meet the demand for needed healthcare workers locally, the Olympic Medical Center Foundation is launching a first-of-a-kind scholarship program.

This week, the foundation announced it has created a $400,000 program to help increase the number of healthcare workers in Clallam County, and to allow current OMC employees to further their education.

OMC Foundation Executive Director Bruce Skinner:

“We know there’s a lot of people out there who have wanted to go and become a nurse or a lab tech or whatever. But a lot of times the cost of getting that education, which is expensive, holds them back. We want to take that out of the equation so that we can increase the number of people receiving education in all parts of healthcare. And fortunately we have a great training ground right here. In Port Angeles at Peninsula College,”  said Skinner.

Skinner says they expect half of the funds will go to employees seeking continued education in health care, while the other half will go to area students who want to take medical courses at Peninsula College.

Skinner says it’s the first time the foundation has done a scholarship program.

“This was the number-one thing that the hospital wanted.  Normally we give money towards equipment, but the scholarship fund is extremely important for them now and they let us know that. So that’s why we decided to do it. We plan in the future to continue to do this because the problem is not going to go in a year.”

Skinner says the foundation has had a record-setting year in its fundraising events, which has allowed them to pull the 400-thousnad dollars for the scholarships this year.

If you’re interested in more information or in donating to further enhance the scholarship program, you can call the OMC Foundation office at 360-417-7144.