The Cumberland Health Care Careers Bursary Program

Student Application Information

Staff shortages - in some cases severe shortages - in many of the eighteen employment categories identified in the Cumberland Careers document of 2004 – will continue to occur unless more medical professionals are trained and working in the Province. As an example, there will be a net shortage of 34% of medical laboratory technologists in Nova Scotia by the year 2010. Registered nurses, the category that the majority of the public identifies with as providing health care, will see over 500 fewer in their ranks over the next three years. Similar statistics apply to medical radiation technologists, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and many more professions.

The Cumberland Health Care Careers Bursary Program Fund provides an annual $5000 bursary to Cumberland County students attending post-secondary training for one of the identified critical areas. Candidates then undergo screening for eligibility requirements and participate in an interview process as part of the application process. For each year the student is awarded the bursary the student then agrees to work an equivalent year within Cumberland County. Students must be registered in a professional course of study verses general studies (eg Bachelor of Science with no specialization).

"We’re pleased that everyone is coming together to help bring medical professionals back to our community," continued Joe Gauthier, Managing Director of the Cumberland Health Care Foundation, "I mean one way or another, we all end up needing healthcare professionals – whether it’s because we are ill temporarily or battling a long term chronic disease".

The Cumberland Health Care Foundation in partnership with the Cumberland Health Authority, the North Cumberland Health Care Foundation, the All Saints Hospital Foundation, Bayview Memorial Foundation, and the South Cumberland Community Health Foundation, have come together to provide an annual bursary of $5,000 to Cumberland County residents who are pursuing a health care career in one of the identified areas of shortage. Each year a minimum of four (4) bursaries are awarded.

To date the following individuals are currently in a course of study and/or are working within a healthcare institutition within Cumberland County:

Recipients and status to date:

Atkinson, Hillary (Amherst) - Nursing - in school
Beaumont, Christina (Oxford) - Respiratory Therapy Technician - in school
Bourgeois, Ashley (Amherst) - Nursing - in school
Canning, Julie (Amherst) - Nursing - in school
Chapman, Karen (Amherst) – Cardiology Technician – in school
Chappell, Pamela (Tidnish) - Nursing completed - working in Cumberland
Cormier, Charlene (Amherst) - Licensed Practical Nurse - in school
Cormier, Chelsea (Parrsboro) - Nursing - in school
Drummond, Beth (Malagash) - Licensed Practical Nurse - in school
Edwards, Sabrina (Amherst) - Nursing - in school
Ells, Melinda (Advocate) – Nursing – in school
Gillis, Kelsea (Parrsboro) - Nursing – in school
Gray, Keri (Amherst) – Radiology Technologist completed - working in Cumberland
Legere, Sabrina (Amherst) - Nursing - in school
Lucci, Marsha (Amherst) - Nursing - in school
MacKenzie, Ann Marie (Pugwash) - Nursing completed - working in Cumberland
MacLeod, Megan (Springhill) – Radiology Technologist – in school
MacLeod, Melissa (Amherst) - Nursing completed - working in Cumberland
Mundle (Hawkes) Tracey (Pugwash) - Licensed Practical Nurse completed - working in Cumberland
Pashkoski, Melanie (Wentworth) - Nursing - in school
Porteous, Heather (Oxford) - Nursing completed - working in Cumberland
Read, Toni (Oxford) - Nursing completed- working in Cumberland
Scopie, Megan (River Hebert) - Laboratory Technologist completed - working in Cumberland
Stewart, Lisa (Amherst) - Nursing completed - working in Cumberland
Ward, Jessica (Parrsboro) - Nursing - in school

To donate to the Cumberland Careers Bursary Project simply hit one of the "donate now" buttons on this website and you will be transferred to the secured server for making a donation.