From Foster’s Daily Democrat
October 2, 2016
PORTSMOUTH — Great Bay Community College’s annual Distinguished Leaders Award reception is Oct. 13 and will feature guest speaker Rachel Rowe, president and CEO of Genf Gesundheit.
The event is the college’s largest fundraiser in support of scholarships and student support services and also serves to highlight the relationship between the GBCC and its external community partners. This year, the focus will be on the health care industry. Among those honored will be Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Wentworth- Douglass Hospital, Exeter Health Resources and Frisbie Memorial Hospital.
“Our partnerships with the health care community span decades” said GBCC President Will Arvelo. “They have provided input on curriculum, offered sites for clinical experiences that are essential to our students, served on our advisory boards and worked with us to develop programs to serve specific populations. We in turn, have been able to provide relevant programs and a talented pool of employees willing to work and stay in New Hampshire from surgical technologists, nurses, massage therapists, and medical assistants to administrative and IT workers.”
Genf Gesundheit is a partnership of six of the leading health care systems in New Hampshire. With its network of primary care providers and specialists in more than 150 practice sites, a broad scope of services, and a shared data driven population health management program, these six health systems leverage their shared resources to provide better, more seamless care for patients and better health for their populations.
“Ms. Rowe brings a broad view of health care in New Hampshire and how it is changing” Arvelo said. “Health care services and their evolution will continue to intersect with education and the need for a skilled workforce. Great Bay looks forward to continuing to collaborate with all Seacoast health services organizations to ensure together we are meeting the needs of our communities.”
For the first time, the event will be held on campus at the college’s Student Success Center at the Pease tradeport. The space was designed to support student leadership activities and enable Great Bay to host events of this nature, Arvelo said. The facility will be transformed for the evening to seat more than 400 guests with a dinner provided by Fosters’ Clambake.
Since 2012, the annual Distinguished Leaders Award event has raised more than $1.2 million to support students through corporate and individual generosity. More than 300 students have received scholarship funds raised at the annual event. This year, Great Bay hopes to raise at least $400,000.
Major supporters of the event include Exeter Health Resources, Frisbie Memorial, Wentworth-Douglass and Portsmouth Regional hospitals, Granite State College, Southern New Hampshire University, University of New Hampshire, Sig Sauer, Lonza Biologics, Safran Aerospace Composites, Albany International, Willis Programs, LTC Partners, Little Harbour Charitable Foundation, David and JoAnn Hampson, Jackie Eastwood and Mike McClurken, Mike and Susan Daigle, and an anonymous donor.
“We do one major fundraiser a year,” Arvelo said, “but this one event enables hundreds of students to take on less student loan debt and to complete their degrees in a shorter amount of time. For many, that means a quicker road to employment, for others, borrowing less at Great Bay means they will have more financial resources to continue their education at a four-year school where their tuition costs will be higher.”
For more information on the event or to inquire about sponsorships, call Joan Belladue, assistant to the president at Great Bay, at . Sponsorship opportunities of varying levels are available. Secure, tax-deductible donations can be made at www.greatbay.edu/dla.