The Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) recently announced the recipients of this year’s Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation (IHERF) scholarships, and a student working at Dallas County Hospital was one of those individuals.

Emily Taylor is an employee at DCH who is currently studying Nursing at Walden University. She was one of 52 students to receive a $3,500 scholarship. A total of $182,000 in scholarships were given by IHA this year. This is the 14th year of the IHERF scholarships, and prior to this year the organization gave 34 scholarships. Hospitals also benefit from the program, as recipients such as Taylor agree to work one year in an Iowa hospital for each year they receive an award.

The purpose of the program is to address the shortage of healthcare professionals, and encourage young Iowans to establish or continue their careers with Iowa hospitals. Since its inception, there has been more than $1.4 million provided in IHERF scholarships.