With support from Providence Swedish, local scholars are shaping healthcare’s future
Through our partnership with Renton Technical College, Providence Swedish provided scholarships to students from underserved communities who are in the school's pre-nursing, licensed practical nursing, pharmacy, and surgical technology programs.
Caring and engaged health care professionals are always in high demand, and Providence Swedish is committed to encouraging those who may be interested in building a career in this field. We know that opportunities to obtain education can be challenging to pursue.
As part of our partnership with Renton Technical College (RTC), Providence Swedish provided scholarships to 12 students of color in 2023. These students were enrolled in pre-nursing, licensed practical nursing (LPN), pharmacy, and surgical technology coursework.
“Access to high-demand and high-wage healthcare careers has been transformational for RTC students and includes over $100,000 in scholarship support, hiring RTC graduates, and providing clinical training,” says Carrie Shaw, executive director of the RTC Foundation. “It is a true privilege to partner with such an amazing team of healthcare and community leaders.”
“As the first in our family to attend college, graduating will be a tribute to them. I hope to help my daughters achieve their educational goals and to be the best mother/role model I can be. I look forward to one day purchasing a home and establishing my retirement.” - Renton Technical College student and Providence Swedish scholarship recipient.
The students who received scholarships have their own personal stories about why health care is a field they want to pursue. They cite fulfilling and reliable careers, being able to provide for their families, caring for others in our community, and honoring those who have worked hard for them to pursue their dreams as reasons for looking to a future in health care.
“My mother is an immigrant who moved here as an adult from Puerto Rico with an 8th-grade education. She grew up in poverty and raised her children in poverty. I started working when I was fifteen to help pay for our rent. I remember my senior year in high school living in a 1-bedroom studio apartment with my mom and two other siblings. I slept on a sofa my mother found on the streets of New Jersey,” said one student. “Starting college was going to be my opportunity to overcome my life circumstance. I began my journey at a community college because it’s what I could financially afford. During that time, I lost two important family figures to cancer. The man who helped raise me and my aunt who was like a second mother to me. This was the first time I experienced such loss, causing me to drop out of school and lose myself for several years afterward.”
“As the first in our family to attend college, graduating will be a tribute to them. I hope to help my daughters achieve their educational goals and to be the best mother/role model I can be. I look forward to one day purchasing a home and establishing my retirement.”
“Successful partnerships are grounded in an alignment of values and purpose. And the Providence Swedish and RTC Foundation partnership is all of that and more,” says Shaw. “Our partnership spans over seven years and it has been a joy to work with past and present leadership. Everyone is passionate about expanding educational opportunities that center student voices and community-based solutions.”
Providence Swedish was also honored with a Corporate Partner Recognition Award at the 2024 Student Success Celebration for its unwavering commitment to supporting students who pursue careers in health care.
About Providence Swedish
Providence Swedish has served the Puget Sound region since the first Providence hospital opened in Seattle in 1877 and the first Swedish hospital opened in 1910. The two organizations affiliated in 2012 and today comprise the largest health care delivery system in Western Washington, with 22,000 caregivers, eight hospitals and 244 clinics. A not-for-profit family of organizations, Providence Swedish provides more than $406 million in community benefit in the Puget Sound Region each year. The health system offers a comprehensive range of services and specialty and subspecialty care in a number of clinical areas, including cancer, cardiovascular health, neurosciences, orthopedics, digestive health and women’s and children’s care.