Local students receive nursing scholarships

Sheila Askarnia of Oak Park and Mara Weingarten of Calabasas have each received a Kaiser Permanente scholarship for the one-year accelerated nursing program at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. The hospital and college have partnered together to attract quality nurses and ease a staffing shortage.

Kaiser recently gave the college $850,000 to implement a student loan repayment program, which covers up to two-thirds of tuition for 34 nursing students. In exchange, students will work at a Kaiser hospital for two years after graduation.

Students selected for the forgivable loan program will perform clinical rotations and receive mentoring from the hospital nursing staff.

Mount St. Mary's College is a Catholic, liberal arts school for women and also offers a one-year accelerated baccalaureate nursing program for students who already have a bachelor's degree.

For more information, visit www.msmc.la.edu.