Excela Westmoreland Hospital Auxiliary Awards Scholarships

GREENSBURG, PA, June 1, 2022… Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital Auxiliary supports Excela Health employees and area high school students in their pursuit of continuing education in a medical profession with scholarship assistance. This year the auxiliary awarded five $2,500 scholarships.

Receiving continuing support are two 2020 graduates of Norwin High School, Mara Hudson and Ashley Svec. Hudson, daughter of Joshua and Amy Hudson, is enrolled at the Pennsylvania State University with plans to become a Physician Assistant. Svec, daughter of Robert and Susan Svec, attends Carlow University, where she is studying Biology/MS Cardiovascular Perfusion.

Three Excela Health employees are also scholarship recipients.

Christie Lauch is a licensed master’s level behavioral health therapist in the Crisis Center at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital. This Norwin School District graduate has been with the health system for seven years, having initially participated in Camp Focus, Excela’s summer school-based therapy program, as a behavioral health intern. She completed her undergraduate degree at Slippery Rock University and her master’s program at Chatham University, where she is working toward completion of her Doctorate in Psychology Counseling, With that advanced degree she will become a psychologist. Newly married, Lauch’s father, Stanley Gribshaw, is lead accountant for Excela Health.

Alleysha Hauser is a technical partner in the resource pool at Excela Westmoreland Hospital, which provides her the necessary flexibility to complete her studies in the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing. This Derry Area School District graduate started down a healthcare path at Slippery Rock University, thinking she would pursue a career as a Physician Assistant. But her mother’s experiences in a home care agency, as well as various family illnesses that led to hospitalizations sharpened Hauser’s focus on Nursing as her calling.

Hailee Errera is a technical partner II on the 2AB unit at Excela Westmoreland Hospital. A 2020 graduate of Yough School District, she is enrolled in the nursing program at Westmoreland County Community College. No stranger to the helping professions, Errera became a firefighter for her Herminie hometown at the age of 14.

The auxiliary established the scholarship program in the 1970s and awarded the first eight scholarships of $500 each. The amount of the scholarship has continued to increase throughout the decades, as has the parameters for eligibility. Funding for the scholarships comes from the auxiliary’s annual Christmas Auction and Spring Into Bingo events.

Download PDF