Cooley Dickinson Hospital Awards Nursing Scholarships

NORTHAMPTON — Each year, Cooley Dickinson Hospital (CDH) makes nursing scholarships available thanks to the generosity of donors who wish to encourage excellence in healthcare and continuing education. The Cooley Dickinson Development Team announced the recipients of the 2015 Nursing Scholarship Awards on June 22 at an awards luncheon.

The Therese Connor Nursing Education Fund — created by family and friends in memory of Terry Connor, a class of 1953 School of Nursing alumna and a longtime nurse at Cooley Dickinson Hospital — was awarded to Michelle Rogalski, a full-time registered nurse in the CDH Radiation Oncology department who plans on continuing her education for oncology nurse certification.

The Louise Finn Nursing Scholarship — named in honor of a nurse in the Childbirth Center for more than 50 years and given to the child of a Cooley Dickinson employee — was awarded to Bridget Diggins, the daughter of Charleen Diggins, a nurse and professional-development specialist at CDH. Bridget will continue her education at Fitchburg State University and hopes to practice at Cooley Dickinson when she finishes her degree.

The CDH School of Nursing Alumni Association Scholarship — awarded annually to a graduating Northampton High School student — was given to Shelby Cormier, who just graduated from Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School and will begin her nursing education at Curry College in the fall.

The Edward Moss Memorial Scholarship Fund is awarded annually to Cooley Dickinson employees pursuing or furthering their nursing education. This year, five awards were granted. The recipients included:

• Cady Heon, who works full-time as a medical assistant at Williamsburg Internal Medicine, a Cooley Dickinson Medical Group practice. She has been taking night classes at Greenfield Community College and expects to complete her associate’s degree in 2015. Once she completes her associate’s degree, she will continue her nursing education at Greenfield Community College;

• Sammy Rosa, a certified nursing assistant on the Cooley Dickinson Medical-Surgical unit who has been completing his prerequisite nursing courses. He will begin pursing a degree in nursing at Springfield Technical Community College in the fall;

• Kathleen Curley, a part-time patient care technician in the Medical-Surgical department, who just completed her sophomore year at Westfield State University. She expects to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and minor in mathematics in May 2017, and hopes to continue working at Cooley Dickinson.

• Tsering Dhundup, who, through his work in the Nutrition and Food Services department at Cooley Dickinson, has had the opportunity to get a closer look at the tremendous impact nurses have on the lives of their patients and families. This inspired him to begin an accelerated second bachelor’s degree program in nursing through UMass, beginning in August.

• Jenna Tymkowiche, who worked for Cooley Dickinson as a phlebotomist for six years while working toward her bachelor’s degree in nursing from American International College. She will take her nurse credentialing exam in the fall.