Trilogy Health Services is committing $50,000 to fund six annual scholarships to encourage undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Southern Indiana to pursue clinical and nonclinical careers in assisted living and memory care communities, skilled nursing facilities and other settings serving older adults.

It’s the first public-private partnership for the university’s Center for Healthy Aging and Wellness and a continuation of an eight-year relationship between the university in Evansville, IN, and Trilogy, based two hours away in Louisville, KY. Trilogy communities in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan offer independent and assisted living, skilled nursing and rehabilitative services.

The aid is designed to build a pipeline of workers in areas such as nursing, long-term care administration, social work, accounting, management and marketing. Various scholarships will range in value and cover student memberships in a professional society, student attendance at a professional conference, books for classes or monies for student leaders and administrators in training. Multiple awards will be made in each category.

Trilogy communities will continue to serve as settings for student internships and also a new administrator-in-training residency program, Todd Schmiedeler, Ed.D., the company’s senior vice president of foundation and workforce development, told McKnight’s Senior Living. “In fact, Trilogy has been a long-term partner with USI in this area,” he said. “To date, we have hosted 80 USI students internships at 14 Trilogy locations. In fact, we were named an Internship Employer of the Year in 2016 by USI.”

Pictured above: University of Southern Indiana students pause for a photo with two staff members (in orange) before visiting Trilogy Health Services’ West River Health Campus in 2016. From left: Kelsi Wallace, an exercise science/pre-occupational therapy major; Tiffani Weatherford, a Master of Health Administration degree student and health services/long-term care administration major; Rebecca Grisham-Whitehouse, a nursing student; Rebecca Lucas, an MHA degree student and health services/LTC administration major; Ann Riebel, a Master of Social Work program student; Kyra Fleener, an OT assisting major; and Courtney Oldham, a health services/LTC administration major.

“My internship here at West River not only taught me different skills but opened the door for me to become an employee here,” said Jordan Shots, a former USI intern who now serves is a social services assistant at Trilogy’s West River Health Campus in Evansville, IN.

“My internship at Amber Manor gave me a great opportunity to experience all aspects of the long-term care industry,” said Brandon Jensen, a former USI intern who now serves as director of life enrichment at Trilogy’s Amber Manor in Petersburg, IN.