SHELTON, WA – Mason Health is proud to introduce a new scholarship opportunity: The Mason Health Foundation Hospitalist Group Scholarship Fund. Open to any senior high school student living in Mason County, the opportunity is the newest financial aid opportunity in a growing portfolio of funding for students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare.

The $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to students aiming to attain a bachelor’s degree applicable in healthcare fields. This includes traditional provider services (e.g. medicine, dentistry, nursing, physical therapy), allied health (e.g. pharmacy, nutritional science), social sciences, behavioral health, and related medical sciences (e.g. biochemistry, bioengineering, laboratory medicine).

Special consideration will be given to first-generation college students, those demonstrating a strong desire to complete a 4-year degree, and those with a financial need as determined by the FAFSA Student Aid Index.

The Mason Health Hospitalist Group Scholarship Fund is administered through Mason Health Foundation with donations from the Mason Health Hospitalist Group. The review committee includes:

• Douglas Lindahl, DO, board-certified internist and Lead Hospitalist at Mason General Hospital
• Jacqueline Gorzynski, MD, full spectrum family provider at Mason Clinic Primary Care
• Darren Cuevas, DO, Chief Medical Officer at Mason Health.

Dr. Lindahl serves as Lead Hospitalist at Mason General Hospital, with a focus on internal medicine. After beginning his career as a practicing pharmacist, Dr. Lindahl decided to switch paths because he wanted to be more involved in the entire medical process. “I really enjoyed clinical decision making, and I love hospital medicine, so this is a perfect fit,” he said.

As a child, Dr. Gorzynski wanted to become a veterinarian, but after taking a class in her undergraduate studies, she realized she was destined for a different direction. “I was driven early on to go into a field that involved a lot of complex thinking and decision making, but I took an anatomy class and fell in love with the human body,” she said. Dr. Gorzynski chose family practice to be able to treat all ages and internal medicine to be able to focus on all different disciplines.

Dr. Cuevas is Mason Health’s Chief Medical Officer. Coming from a family very focused on helping others, Dr. Cuevas was bound for a life of service. “I have always grown up with a community mindset, so it’s really cool that we’re able to do this for our community here in Mason County,” he said. “It’s often unreachable to get this amount of money and support.”

Dr. Cuevas and Dr. Gorzynski are both first-generation college students and Dr. Lindahl has watched two of his children-in-law thrive as first-generation graduates. Many children, particularly in a rural, low-income area like Mason County, are in a situation where they don’t have access to resources or opportunities to pursue higher education and advanced education degree. For several years, Mason Health has maintained a partnership with Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU), allowing our providers to serve as teachers and mentors for students undergoing preceptorships through the hospital. For our hospitalists, it was a natural fit to use the resources from partnerships established through PNWU to award scholarship funding in support of deserving Mason County students to pursue healthcare education.

“As a first-generation doctor myself, sometimes just knowing it’s possible is the first step,” said Dr. Cuevas. “Being able to say ‘Hey, look at me. I did it!’ to friends and peers can be enough to lift and inspire an entire community.”

It was also for this reason a very important distinction to offer a scholarship with broad parameters. “The financial support is huge - as a first-generation student myself, I’m really excited about helping kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. But a big part of the difference is how broad we’re willing to support,” said Dr. Gorzynski. Many scholarships tend to be stricter in their parameters, supporting more traditional paths to becoming a physician or a nurse; Mason Health is seeking to branch out and offer a wider range of options that can be applicable in any healthcare field. “Medicine involves so many different fields,” said Dr. Lindahl. “It’s not just patient care – a hospital cannot live without administrators. We need people who can help us make money and put it in the right place. We need behavioral health. Opening more doors is important.”

As for what advice the hospitalists have for those interested in healthcare and potentially thinking of applying for the Hospitalist Scholarship Fund, the message is simple: don’t give up. “We are here because we persist. You will see failures and roadblocks, but you have to keep moving. You can dream. It’s going to be possible,” said Dr. Cuevas.

To find more information and apply, please visit https://www.masonhealth.com/foundation/hospitalist-scholarship-fund. Applications are due April 30th.

Mason Health, Public Hospital District No. 1 of Mason County is ISO 9001 Quality Management System certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and is a licensed and accredited acute care hospital with a level four emergency trauma designation. The Board of Hospital District Commissioners are Don Welander, President, Lori Brady, Secretary, and Pamela Schlauderaff, Trustee. Mason General Hospital and Mason Clinic are ENERGY STAR® certified and Mason Health is the recipient of one Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Award, three Partner for Change Awards, two Greening the Operating Room Awards, the Making Medicine Mercury Free Award and the 2025 Emerald Award. To learn more about Mason Health’s sustainability efforts, visit https://www.masonhealth.com/about/sustainability-environmental-stewardship. There are more than 100 physicians on staff in 19 specialties. For more information or to find a health care provider, visit www.masonhealth.com. To learn more about DNV, visit www.dnv.com/healthcare.

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