BVU, Stewart Memorial Community Hospital Forge Strategic Partnership
Through a collaboration with Buena Vista University, Stewart Memorial Community Hospital seeks to broaden educational opportunities for employees and their eligible family members.
Buena Vista University (BVU) and Stewart Memorial Community Hospital have entered a Strategic Partnership that mutually benefits both organizations as they strive to strengthen the communities they serve.
This partnership allows for employees of Stewart Memorial Community Hospital, as well as eligible family members of full-time employees, to receive grant funding to lower the overall cost of education while enrolled in classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus. Partner grant funding also lowers the cost per credit hour for students enrolled in BVU’s convenient online/hybrid undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership graduate program.
“We’re really excited about this Strategic Partnership for a couple of reasons,” says Stewart Memorial Community Hospital Human Resources Director Lydia Larson. “Buena Vista University is local, so we anticipate a huge benefit, whether that be for our employees or their family members because of the proximity to us. BVU is also very well known. I know people who went to BVU and had good experiences there, so providing those top-notch services in a close proximity to us is huge.”
“Buena Vista University is local, so we anticipate a huge benefit, whether that be for our employees or their family members because of the proximity to us. BVU is also very well known. I know people who went to BVU and had good experiences there, so providing those top-notch services in a close proximity to us is huge.”
Stewart Memorial Community Hospital Human Resources Director Lydia Larson
Stewart Memorial Community Hospital, which employs about 250 people, is a 25-bed critical access hospital, offering both inpatient and outpatient services to residents of Lake City and the surrounding area. Stewart Memorial also features health clinics operating in Gowrie, Lake City, Lake View, and Rockwell City.
The health care provider has been recognized numerous times at the state and national level for its patient satisfaction and quality care by Becker’s Hospital Review, Women’s Choice Award, Press Ganey, Studer Group, Iowa Hospital Association, and the Des Moines Register’s Iowa Top Workplaces recognition program.
“I chose BVU because I loved how personal all of the professors are with the students,” says Stewart Memorial Community Hospital Physical Therapy Assistant Zane Neubaum, who is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation health sciences and kinesiology and exercise science at BVU’s Storm Lake campus and plays basketball for the Beavers. “I really like how the staff truly wants to see us succeed and are willing to go out of their way to help us. Smaller class sizes has allowed me to be able to receive one-on-one time with my professors as I need.”
“At Buena Vista University, our mission is to strengthen communities across Iowa by providing affordable, accessible higher education through Strategic Partnerships,” says BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships Laura Todd. “We look forward to our collaboration with Stewart Memorial Community Hospital and the many positive impacts it will have in our local region and throughout Iowa.”
For more information about BVU’s Strategic Partnerships and partner opportunities, please visit the BVU website at bvu.edu/strategic-partnerships or contact Strategic Partnerships at StrategicPartnerships@bvu.edu.