Memorial Medical Center Foundation awards 2026 scholarships to Dubois County students, nurse

Memorial Medical Center Foundation’s latest scholarship round is aimed at more than helping students pay tuition. It is building a local pipeline of nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals who may one day care for Dubois County families in Jasper and across the region.

The foundation announced its 2026 scholarship recipients on April 29, led by the $2,500 Tonya Heim Nursing Scholarship for Blake Wiseman, a Deaconess Memorial Medical Center nurse who has worked there since 2021. Wiseman serves in the emergency department, a 23-bed unit that sees about 80 patients a day and roughly 26,000 patients a year, and is pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at Indiana State University. The award is designed to help current Deaconess Memorial RN employees move toward BSN, MSN, DNP or Ph.D. nursing degrees.

The Lou Jerger Memorial Healthcare Scholarship went to Haley Pund, a Forest Park High School senior who plans to major in exercise science at the University of Evansville. The Kathleen M. Tempel Nursing Scholarships went to Maeli Stoll, a Barr-Reeve senior headed to Vincennes University, and Lily Saypharath, a Jasper High School senior headed to the University of Southern Indiana; both plan to major in nursing.

Other recipients include Mason Winter of Perry Central, who plans to study pharmacy at Indiana University; Payton Campbell of Jasper High School, who plans to study architecture at Ball State University; Tryp Verkamp of Northeast Dubois High School, who plans to study mechanical engineering at USI; and Saydee Arnold of Southridge High School, who plans to study exercise science at Indiana University. The foundation also awarded eight $1,000 scholarships across its service area, including Avari Schneider, a 2024 Forest Park graduate now studying nursing at Western Kentucky University.

The scholarship list shows how closely the hospital is tying money to workforce needs. The Lou Jerger scholarship is aimed at students from the hospital’s service area pursuing health-care careers, with priority consideration for anesthesia. That matters in a county where a shortage of nurses, pharmacists or other clinicians can quickly ripple into longer waits, fewer appointment openings and more strain on emergency and outpatient care.

The Memorial Medical Center Foundation has said it has stewarded charitable donations since 1974 for the greatest needs of the hospital and patients it serves. Deaconess Memorial Medical Center in Jasper says it now offers more than 30 specialties across 33 health care facilities, with about 250 physicians and advanced practice providers in seven counties. The foundation said in December that it was offering more than $75,000 in scholarship opportunities for current high school seniors and post-secondary students, underscoring that this is not just college aid, but an investment in who will care for Dubois County next.