U. geriatric program 1 year old and growing

Continuing nursing shortages and a population that is living longer on average have shown an increased need for geriatric care in Utah and the nation. A program at the University of Utah committed to turning out more aging-care nurses, celebrated its first year and announced an expansion to its services earlier this month.

The U.'s Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, designed to increase qualified faculty for growing geriatric instruction opportunities, is one of nine in the country that receives funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation. A $500,000 program match from the Utah-based Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation will now allow the center to sponsor scholars within the College of Nursing, who will someday be responsible for training nurses to provide geriatric patients with a higher quality of life.

"It's a smart response to the nursing shortage and one that will reach out beyond the walls of the institution to impact the entire mountain west," said Rachel Watman, senior program officer for the John A. Hartford Foundation. She added that the U.'s program boasts a great resource in its executive director, Ginette A. Pepper, who is the nation's first geriatric nurse practitioner.

The foundation chose the university's program to sponsor due to its business model, which states that during the first five years, the center will prepare 18-20 new nurse scientists, qualified for teaching careers in research intensive universities, and at least 22 master's or doctorate-level graduate students prepared as geriatric experts. Its unique distance education offerings were also impressive to selection judges, allowing students in many areas of the country to interact and build personal and professional relationships.

The hope is that the students will go on to serve as faculty for basic and advanced practice nursing programs in community colleges, colleges and other universities, thus increasing the influence of geriatric care.

Andy Noorda, son of Tye and the late Ray Noorda, said he believes his family's investment in the U.'s Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence — and its students — is an investment in Utah's future.

"My father loved making institutional gifts because he believed they made sense to the community and therefore yielded a great return on investment," he said. "He favored programs that would alleviate people's suffering, provide economic stimulation and treat everyone with dignity and respect."

Allowing students who may not otherwise have the chance to study geriatrics to such an extent is a goal of the Noorda Foundation gift. The collaboration with the U.'s center helps not only to increase economic opportunities for those students, but Noorda said it will also expand resources "to help us all age in a way that is dignified."

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