Two Mercy Cedar Rapids employees receive IHERF scholarships

Svetlana Acas of Iowa City and Amy Carey of Marion, both employees of Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, have each been awarded a $3,500 scholarship from the Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation (IHERF), which is supported by the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA).

Acas is attending Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids pursuing a Nursing – BSN degree. She currently works as an RN on Mercy’s Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit. Carey attends Purdue University Global and is pursuing a Nursing – ADN degree. She currently works in Mercy’s Emergency Department as a technical specialist. They are among 60 students from Iowa who have received assistance this year from the IHERF Health Care Careers Scholarship Program.

IHA established the IHERF Health Care Careers Scholarship Program in 2004 to help address the shortage of healthcare professionals and encourage young Iowans to establish or continue their careers with Iowa hospitals. The first scholarships were awarded in 2005 and now more than 625 students have benefited from the program.

In exchange for this financial support, students agree to work one year in an Iowa hospital for each year they receive an award. In this way, the scholarship program helps stabilize and enhance Iowa’s hospital workforce. Today, 380 scholarship recipients are working in Iowa hospitals.

IHERF is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iowa Hospital Association. IHERF is a charitable nonprofit and exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code.