Scholarship Recipients Begin Sophomore Year

While there are many benefits of working at LifeBridge Health, tuition assistance is among the most popular.

That includes help for those employees who have children in college. Take Northwest Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation fitness specialist Mary Maslow - with four children between the ages of 19 and 25, she's intimately familiar with the cost of college tuition.

Her two oldest – 20-year-old Iris, a senior at North Carolina State University, and 19-year-old Luke, a sophomore at Coastal Carolina University – both have benefited from the LifeBridge Health Scholarship Program, which provides funds for dependent children who are college
sophomores. Two years ago, Iris received $1,500 for her studies, and Luke received the
same amount this year.

“We feel blessed that we have kids who are so motivated and to have a work place that helps with that,” Mary says. “LifeBridge Health is promoting my family’s welfare and supporting me, and this certainly eases the financial burden of college. It’s a wonderful thing that they’re doing.”

The scholarship fund began in 2006 and has $25,000 each year to distribute among qualified
applicants. Students with non–health care related majors, such as Luke, receive $1,500, and health care majors pursuing areas like biology receive $2,500. This year, 12 students received help with their sophomore year of tuition.

“We recognize it’s very expensive to put your child through college,” says LifeBridge Health Director of Compensation and Benefits Guy Van Tiggelen. “We’re excited to help our employees.”

Sandra & Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute electroneurodiagnostic technician Dawn Ryan has worked at Sinai for 25 years. Her oldest child, Elizabeth, who goes by her middle name
of Meg, is a sophomore at University of Maryland, College Park and studying biology.

“She’s grown up with Sinai,” Dawn says.

Marcy Wesalo, a Northwest medical coder, says the scholarship money is a help in paying for her son Joshua’s tuition at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

“It’s a very nice benefit,” she says. “He’s studying biology and economics, and possibly interested
in medical research.”

LifeBridge Health also awarded scholarships to two students in the Cylburn community of $2,000 (for a health care related major) and $1,000 (non-health care related major).

To learn more about working for LifeBridge Health, click here. If you are a LifeBridge Health employee with a freshman in college this school year, check BridgeNet for details on how to apply for 2011.