UVa-Wise receives gift from Wellmont to upgrade nursing equipment

Robert Polahar, president of Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap, presents a check to Debra Carter, Chair of the Department of Nursing at UVa-Wise, to help upgrade the College's laboratory equipment. Wellmont Foundation Board members Ben Allen and Jim Cornett also joined in the check presentation.

A recent gift from the Wellmont Foundation will help upgrade laboratory equipment for nursing students at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

Lonesome Pine Hospital of Wellmont Health System presented the gift of $35,000 to the Department of Nursing at UVa-Wise on Sept. 17. The funds will be used to complete updates on the department’s patient care simulators and manikins and other equipment used for patient simulation exercises, including updated bedside equipment that nursing students are likely to use in today’s hospitals.

“We greatly appreciate Wellmont’s support of our nursing program,” said Debra Carter, chair of the Department of Nursing at UVa-Wise. “In nursing, we strive to keep abreast of new technology in our field. This gift will make that possible for our students, who will benefit from a realistic setting with the latest equipment to practice and hone their skills.”

Robert Polahar, president of Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap, says LPH and the Wellmont Foundation are dedicated to enhancing healthcare throughout the region.

“This gift is representative of that dedication as we grow with the nursing program at UVa-Wise,” Polahar said.

“The Wellmont Foundation has been a longtime supporter of nursing programs throughout southwest Virginia,” said Jim Cornett, treasurer of the Wellmont Foundation and a member of the Wellmont Foundation Board. “We support UVa-Wise and appreciate the regional contributions made by its nursing program and graduates.”

UVa-Wise began offering a pre-licensure four-year nursing program in 2004. Ultimately the program will graduate more than 40 nurses each year.

UVa-Wise continues to offer an RN-to-BSN program and graduated its first class in 1995. Several registered nurses are currently enrolled in this program, which has prepared many nurses for graduate study and positions of leadership since its inception.

“There is a clearly defined need for nursing professionals at Lonesome Pine Hospital and throughout our region,” said Ben Allen, secretary of the Wellmont Foundation Board. “We appreciate the fine work of the UVa-Wise nursing program thus far, and we expect the College to continue to play a significant role in graduating nursing professionals to serve our region.”

The only branch campus of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation’s top ten public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise offers Virginia's only undergraduate degree in software engineering, among 28 other degrees and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.