WakeMed Foundation Establishes $1M Endowment for Nursing Education
Cardiac Surgeon Charles Helton Gives Back to Nurses Who Helped Make His Career a Success
RALEIGH, N.C. (August 13, 2008) - The WakeMed Foundation today announces Wm. Charles Helton, MD, has established an endowment to fund educational opportunities for nursing students, experienced nursing professionals and allied health professionals.
Dr. Helton donated $1 million to the WakeMed Foundation to create the endowment out of gratitude to the often unsung professionals who helped make his career a success - nurses and allied health professionals. Beginning in 2009, the endowment will provide annual scholarships for nursing students as well as nurses pursuing continuing education opportunities. The scholarships will be open to students or RNs who agree to practice at WakeMed or in Wake County.
As a cardiac surgeon with Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates since 1978, Dr. Helton knows how critical well-trained nurses are to patient outcomes. As a physician and WakeMed supporter, he also believes that hospitals are only as good as the nurses who staff them.
“The first person that a patient sees when they’re in a hospital is a nurse,” said Dr. Helton. “The last person they see is also a nurse. In between, about 80 percent of the time they’re seen by nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other allied health professionals. By comparison, patients interact with their physicians with much less frequency. What makes a patient come back to the same hospital? It’s the nurses. They set the tenor and tone of a hospital. And WakeMed is fortunate to have great nurses.”
And from a personal perspective, he said, “The nurses, nurse anesthetists, catheterization lab technicians, perfusionists, PAs and allied health professionals I have worked with at WakeMed have gone above and beyond the call of duty. These people have made my professional development possible, but I couldn’t say thank you to all of them individually. The endowment is my way of thanking them.”
In addition to his $1 million gift, Dr. Helton is also issuing a $500,000 matching challenge grant to other physicians to help build the endowment. He has served on the WakeMed Foundation Board since 2007.
About WakeMed Foundation
WakeMed Foundation is the charitable resource for WakeMed Health & Hospitals, an 864-bed not-for-profit health care organization comprising a network of facilities throughout Wake and Johnston Counties. The WakeMed Foundation is dedicated to building support for WakeMed Health & Hospitals through leadership development, fund raising and educational awareness as the health and hospitals system meets the needs for quality health care programs and services for all citizens of the community. It is currently engaged in a $20 million fund raising effort to build a new children’s hospital at WakeMed Raleigh Campus. The WakeMed system includes a Level I Trauma Center and tertiary referral hospital and rehabilitation hospital in Raleigh, a community hospital in Cary, outpatient centers with freestanding emergency department in North Raleigh and Apex, seven outpatient rehabilitation sites, skilled-nursing and outpatient facilities Fuquay-Varina and Zebulon, a 100+-physician multispecialty practice, and home health services. The WakeMed Foundation supports the health system in its commitment to providing quality healthcare to all citizens of the community.
