The Wegman Family Charitable Foundation donated a five million gift to the Wegmans School of Nursing at St. John Fisher University. The donation is designed to advance nursing education and expand the pipeline of healthcare professionals in the Rochester region.
“At Wegmans, we believe education creates opportunity,” said Colleen Wegman, president and CEO of Wegmans Food Markets. “We’re proud to partner with St. John Fisher University and the School of Nursing to help prepare the next generation of nurses and healthcare aides to build and strengthen the healthcare landscape in our communities.”
According to the University, the gift was made as a part of its comprehensive fundraising campaign, Fisher Forward, and will fund educational and experiential programs that provide Fisher students with the practical skills needed to succeed in nursing. It will also support the endowment and the expansion of experiential learning spaces within the Wegmans School of Nursing.
“The Wegman family changed the trajectory of the University through philanthropy—enabling us to provide a best-in-class, evidence-based nursing and pharmacy education to our students. We remain grateful to Bob Wegman and the entire Wegman family for their ongoing support of Fisher,” said Dr. Gerard J. Rooney, president of the University. “This gift reflects Danny and Colleen’s commitment to making an impact on issues in health care, specifically by ensuring the availability of top talent in the metro Rochester area. We are appreciative to the family for their belief in our ability to provide transformational educational experiences for our students, many of whom go on to pursue health care careers in our community.”
Today, Fisher prepares the largest number of nurses in the region via its traditional baccalaureate degree program and a large percentage of advanced practice nurse practitioners into the regional and state-wide health care workforce.
