John A. Hartford Foundation Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence

The Penn State School of Nursing has been selected to receive a John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence Award. The prestigious award includes a five-year, $1-million grant that will establish a site at the University for a Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence.

The center will address a nationwide shortage of nursing faculty by supporting the preparation of high-quality geriatric nursing faculty who can teach in areas of greatest need.

Ann Kolanowski, the Elouise Ross Eberly Professor of Nursing, will direct the Center of Excellence and oversee its initiatives.

A number of partnerships were forged in preparation for the center. The Johnson & Johnson Foundation will support a national recruitment campaign for graduate programs that prepare geriatric nurse educators. Penn State Public Broadcasting's production unit will assist in the development of that campaign. Scholarship funds will be available to support master's and doctoral students who elect an educational focus to their geriatric nursing program.

In addition, with support from a private donor, the center at Penn State will partner with the University of Pennsylvania's Hartford Center of Excellence in an exchange program that will allow graduate students in geriatric nursing to benefit from the resources of both institutions.

An innovative combination of distance technology and a partnership with the Area Health Education Center will facilitate the delivery of the geriatric nursing master's degree program to the ten Penn State campuses that offer nursing programs. Dissemination of best practices in the preparation of geriatric nursing faculty will be ongoing at the John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence website that will be unveiled at the School of Nursing in the coming months.

Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is a committed champion of health care training, research, and service-system innovations that will ensure the well-being and vitality of older adults. Its overall goal is to increase the nation's capacity to provide effective, affordable care to its rapidly increasing older population. Today, the foundation is America's leading philanthropy with a sustained interest in aging and health.