"First, as a proud two-time graduate of Saginaw Valley State University, I would like to say, 'Go Cards!' Because of our new partnership that will offer a 30% discount to all of McLaren’s part-time and full-time employees, SVSU has made receiving higher education a more attainable reality for our nearly 20,000 employees across the McLaren health system.
As Chief Nursing Officer, I have a personal interest in helping to grow and strengthen our nursing workforce. I am passionate about offerings and partnerships such as this to build our future healthcare professionals from within our system and throughout Michigan. I am looking forward to watching patient care associates become RNs, associate degree nurses seek attainment of their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees, and our current BSNs reaching out for graduate-level education and beyond.
It is also a beautiful thing when members of our nursing team desire to expand their skill set with education beyond the clinical arena. I'm a learner at heart and appreciate the drive, grit, and wisdom it takes to embrace these educational opportunities. Many staff members here are balancing work and home. We hope this tuition discount makes our staff feel that education is more accessible to them. The experience and knowledge that these individuals gain through this higher education have proven to contribute to quality and safety within our hospitals.
Saginaw Valley State University has been a strong educational partner in our community. For decades, McLaren and SVSU have worked together to improve the talent pipeline in our communities. SVSU offers a wide range of degree paths and certificates and excels in state-of-the-art Health and Human Service education, which has contributed to the improved quality of healthcare across our state and beyond.
At McLaren, we are committed to doing what's best for our patients by delivering the highest quality evidence-based care. McLaren is a fully integrated healthcare system, including 13 hospitals and countless outpatient sites in Michigan, and we also have over 400 primary and specialty care physicians. We also operate Michigan's largest network of cancer centers and providers. Our Karmanos Institute is one of only 54 National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive centers in the US. With all of these services and offerings, it is vital to help foster a robust pipeline to keep our workforce strong. We are grateful for any opportunity, such as this extremely generous discount, that leads to helping retain our valuable employees while helping them reach their own personal and professional educational goals.
At McLaren, we are incredibly proud of the level of healthcare we provide to our patients. This starts and ends with having the most highly skilled, compassionate, and dedicated staff. We couldn't be happier with the quality of employees. We are so proud of them, and I'm so proud of the many SVSU alumni that I work beside and look forward to seeing many more in the future. Thank you!"
—Stacy Klump, Chief Nursing Officer, McLaren Bay Region
