Press Release

Independence Blue Cross Announces Creation of New Nursing Scholarships

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – March 8, 2004 Independence Blue Cross (IBC) today announced the establishment of the IBC Nurse Scholars Program, a $2.25 million scholarship initiative aimed at combating the critical shortage of nursing instructors and nurses in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

G. Fred DiBona, Jr., IBC's President and CEO, said the company was contributing $1.74 million over three years to the program, which seeks to increase the number of nursing instructors in the region's graduate nursing programs. In addition, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation (PHEF) is contributing $510,000 to the Scholars Program.

DiBona also announced that IBC was committing an additional $750,000 over the next three years to PHEF's Nursing Education Initiative in Southeastern Pennsylvania, which will provide financial assistance to aspiring undergraduate nursing students.

Together, the two programs – which will begin in September – will offer $3 million in scholarships over three years.

DiBona said the decision to establish the Nurse Scholars Program responds to a pressing need in our community.

"We knew that the nursing shortage poses a severe threat to the future of our health care system," DiBona said, "and so we brought in representatives of the nursing community and asked how IBC could help address the problem. Their answer was loud and clear: 'We need teachers.'" DiBona said the deans of local nursing schools said they could be accepting more students for their programs, but they lack sufficient qualified faculty to teach them.

"By focusing a large portion of our investment on attracting new teachers," DiBona said, "we believe we ultimately can put more nurses on the front lines right here in Southeastern Pennsylvania – and more nurses corresponds to better care.

"We are delighted that together with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation, IBC can make significant progress toward resolving this problem."

"Estimates are projecting an 800,000 national shortfall of working nurses by the year 2020. We cannot stand idle and wait for a growing shortage of nurses and nurse educators to put the health of the Commonwealth's citizens in jeopardy," notes Elinor Z. Taylor, Chairman, Foundation Board of Directors. "The time to act is now and with continued support from organizations like Independence Blue Cross, we can successfully reverse the shortage of nursing professionals before it becomes a crisis."

With more than 78 million baby boomers poised to retire, the need for nurses is about to increase dramatically. But nursing educators say the biggest obstacle to increasing the number of nurses is the availability of nursing faculty.

Since 1995, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, baccalaureate nursing programs were forced to turn away more than 11,000 qualified students due to limited faculty, clinical sites and classroom space.

The resulting impact on the number of practicing nurses will be serious. Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) estimate that as many as 1 million registered nurse (RN) positions will be vacant by the year 2010.

Those reports also state:

• 47% of RNs plan to leave nursing within the next 10 years.
• 90% of nursing homes report insufficient nursing staff to provide care for the growing elderly population.
• Increases in nurse workloads coincide with increased mortality rates and decreased quality of care received by patients.

"The IBC Nurse Scholars' initiative is a responsive, visionary model of collaboration and partnership among academic institutions and the healthcare community," said M. Louise Fitzpatrick, Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor of Nursing at Villanova University. "It addresses the pressing need for well qualified nurses to meet society's needs for safe, clinically competent and compassionate nursing care by supporting the education of nursing students. Through its support of this program, IBC and its leadership will truly impact the field and make an important difference in improving patient care through the vehicle of nursing education."

Area nursing schools and programs who would like to participate can request an application for scholarship money through PHEF. IBC and PHEF will review each application to determine how the money can be most effectively used to meet the needs of the community. The ultimate administration of the scholarship funds will be the responsibility of the individual participating nursing programs.

DiBona said IBC's investment in these programs fits perfectly into its role as the region's leading health insurer.

"We promise our members access to the best health care system in the world," DiBona said. "But we also promise to do whatever we can to help improve the quality of the care in that system – both for our members and for all of the people in our community. We believe these programs will go a long way toward helping us keep that promise."

Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania, providing coverage to nearly 2.9 million people in Pennsylvania.

About the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation is a non-government, nonprofit organization seeking to create, expand and enhance affordable options for postsecondary education for students, families and schools. The Foundation identifies key areas in need of financial assistance and creates innovative programs and services that alleviate the financial burden of tuition and other education costs. The Foundation also promotes the affordability of a quality higher education and career opportunities that can be realized with continued education.

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