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Winston-Salem, NC - The Duke Endowment announced today it has awarded a three-year, $875,000 grant to the Forsyth Medical Center Foundation for nurse training and retention. The grant will fund programs at Forsyth Medical Center, Forsyth Technical Community College and Winston-Salem State University.

"This grant is important to our community because it addresses the growing demand for skilled nurses to meet the health care needs of an aging baby boom population," says Kathie Johnson, vice-president of nursing at FMC. "This population is entering the period in their lives when they will need increase medical care just at the time when a significant number of our skilled nurses are approaching retirement."

Johnson says the grant will be used to hire additional nursing instructors at FTCC and WSSU to accommodate students wishing to enroll in basic registered nursing programs as well as provide continuing education for nurses wanting to pursue Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees for professional advancement.

"We have been working with these two institutions for several years on collaborative nurse recruitment and education programs," says Johnson. "This was a major factor cited by the Duke Endowment in awarding this grant to FMC."

Novant Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system in western North Carolina, serving people in 32 counties reaching from southern Virginia to northern South Carolina. Novant and the majority of its facilities are 501(C)3, private, community organizations.

The healthcare system consists of seven hospitals in the Triad and Charlotte markets: Forsyth Medical Center, Medical Park Hospital, and Thomasville Medical Center in the Triad market: Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville and Presbyterian Hospital Matthews of the Charlotte market. Other facilities and programs of Novant Health include three philanthropic foundations, two nursing home and senior residential facilities, physician clinics, outpatient surgery and diagnostic centers, rehabilitation programs and community health outreach programs.