Jonas Center Hosts Panels on Status of Veterans Healthcare and Philanthropy

LOS ANGELES, CA – On September 12 and 13, 2012, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, in partnership with the University of California Los Angeles’ School of Nursing and the University of California San Francisco’s School of Nursing, hosted two inaugural panel discussions and funders’ briefings to raise awareness and support for the Nurses who are on the frontlines of veterans’ healthcare.

The panels, titled “Coming Home Is Just the Beginning,” was be moderated by Dean Courtney H. Lyder, ND, ScD (Hon.), FAAN, Dean and Professor of UCLA School of Nursing. Panelists included Brigadier General (Ret.) William Bester, US Army, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Darlene Curley, Executive Director, Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, with veterans Pamela Wall, Lieutenant Commander, US Navy, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Jonas Scholar and Keynan Hobbs, MSN, PMHCNS-BC, VA Mission Valley Outpatient Clinic PTSD Clinical Team.

Veterans Healthcare Panel

“The goal of our funders’ briefing is to raise awareness and foster new partnerships that help improve veterans’ healthcare through nursing,” said Donald Jonas, Founder of the Jonas Center of Nursing Excellence. “It is the duty of every American to care for the men and women who have dedicated their lives serving our country with the support they need upon returning home.”

Since 2001, over two million American troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 49,000 have retuned from war with physical and emotional injuries, many of which—like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury—the medical community is just beginning to understand. This panel provides an opportunity for industry experts to discuss the challenges veterans face today and the positive impact philanthropy can have on their healthcare.

The Jonas Center funded the creation of the Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program in 2011, which supports the advanced training of nurses, who, as the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, are at the forefront of progress in veterans’ healthcare. Five military nursing doctoral students at the University of San Diego Hahn School of Nursing comprised the 2011-2012 pilot cohort; the program expands this fall with a cohort of 54 students at universities across the country working in collaboration with Veterans Administration healthcare facilities.

 

About the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence

Founded in 2006, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence’s mission is to improve healthcare by advancing nursing scholarships, leadership and innovation. We collaborate on initiatives with other leaders in the nursing field, with a focus on fostering new partnerships across the philanthropic, business, policy and education sectors. Led by Executive Director Darlene Curley, the Jonas Center is funded through the Barbara and Donald Jonas Family Fund, a larger initiative that also supports programs that focus on mental health and at-risk youth.