Silver Cross in the News
Silver Cross, JCC form nursing partnership JOLIET—The Silver Cross Healthy Community Commission has announced that Silver Cross Hospital and Joliet Junior College (JJC) are partnering to offer scholarships to Joliet-area students for a Basic Nurse Assistant Certification program. “This is exactly what I hoped the new Healthy Community Commission would be doing—providing more opportunities to people in our community,” said Margie Woods, chairperson of the Healthy Community Commission. “This is just the beginning of how we can make jobs available to local residents.” Silver Cross will select and support 12 students, eight students from Joliet Junior College and four students from the community. The Healthy Community Commission will be heavily involved in the selection process and support the four students from the community through the scholarship program. “Silver Cross continues to show its commitment to the young people of Joliet by encouraging their education and preparing them for a career in the growing health care field,” said Betty Washington, a Silver Cross Health Community Commission board member and president of the Joliet Community Action Network. “The Commission will select four students as the first group of scholarship recipients, but we hope to make this available to more residents in the future.” According to Woods, the candidates selected will receive full tuition at JJC in addition to books, uniforms, test fees and all CPR trainings, which are also covered by the scholarship. One of the criteria established by the Commission is that scholarship recipients live in a local zip code: 60432, 60433 or 60436. “We are facing a nurse and nurse assistant shortage throughout the entire state of Illinois and that is why this program is so important,” said Peggy Gricus, Silver Cross' vice president of Patient Care Services. The program will begin in May 2008 and is approximately 14-18 weeks long. In addition to lectures and discussions, the program will also include laboratory practice sessions and supervised clinical experience to be held on-site at Silver Cross Hospial. Students will receive 7.5 college credits from JJC. “Certified Nurses Assistants are a critical part of the health care team. Being directly involved with patient care, they are among the first caregivers to be seen by the patient,” added Mary Brenczewski, administrative director of nursing at Silver Cross. Joliet Junior College has provided a state certified Nurse Assistant program for 28 years graduating more than 5,000 students. “We are extremely proud and excited to partner with Silver Cross Hospital,” said Cathy Schley, manager of Health Care Joliet Junior College. 
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