New bursary for Pontiac nursing students thanks to family donation

New bursary for Pontiac nursing students thanks to family donation

A new bursary to help retain local nursing students is now available thanks to a sizable private donation to the Pontiac Community Hospital Foundation.

The MacLachlan  family recently donated $100,000 to the foundation in order to support the hiring and retention of new nurses, one of the local health service’s biggest challenges at the moment.  Foundation VP Allan Dean explained that siblings Bill Jr., Janice and Carole MacLachlan were raised in the Pontiac by their parents William Sr. and Elsie. They wanted to give back to the region and spoke to members of the foundation to figure out the best way to direct their money.

Dean said that they would be distributing four bursaries of up to $5,000 each per year, with the stipulation that the student must work in the Pontiac for as many years as they received the bursary. Applicants must be residents of MRC Pontiac or the Municipality of Pontiac, be bilingual, and be enrolled (full- or part-time) in a nursing program for the upcoming year in either Ontario or Quebec.

CISSSO’s Pontiac representative Nicole Boucher-Larivière explained some of the reasons that hiring and retaining nurses in this region specifically is so difficult, from higher salaries across the river in Ontario, to the bilingualism requirements, to the shortage of housing. She said that across the Pontiac service area (which includes the hospital, CLSCs and three long-term care homes) they are short 60 nurses.

More information can be found on the foundation’s website, and the CISSSO’s website.