STOCKTON, Calif. — With a new donation of $200,000, Stockton's University of the Pacific is aiming to enhance behavioral health services in San Joaquin County and minimize the healthcare workforce shortage.
Nonprofit HealthForce Partners launched a scholarship at the university Friday by handing over the $200,000 check. The scholarship will give students enrolled in the college's Master in Social Work program $5,000 per year for as many as two years.
Students enrolled in the Professional Clinical Psychology program at the Benerd College are also eligible for up to $5,000 each year for two years.
To finish the program, students are required to complete clinical hours in San Joaquin County.
“There's a tremendous shortage of mental health providers. It affects young children, seniors and everyone in between," said Nicoleta Bugnariu, dean of the university's School of Health Sciences. "This gives us the ability to attract local students from our community who can get their master of social work degree, have their practice clinical hours in San Joaquin County and then return to deliver that mental health care that is much needed. Scholarships and paid internships — those are absolutely game changers.”
The first scholarships are expected to go out for this year's fall semester.
HealthForce Partners, which started in 2018, is a nonprofit that aims to alleviate the healthcare worker shortage in the northern San Joaquin Valley through recruitment, training and retention of healthcare workers.
The same nonprofit launched a similar scholarship at Stanislaus State.
Watch more Stockton news from ABC10: Donations, community support keeps lights on at downtown Stockton restaurant
