BRYN MAWR, Pa. (WPVI) — Nurses at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Montgomery County were surprised to learn of a generous $1 million donation to help relieve their student loan debt.
The gift follows a similar $1 million donation made to other Main Line Health hospitals — Lankenau Medical Center, Paoli Hospital — and a $250,000 donation to Riddle Hospital.
“I had no idea. I was just told to show up; there wasn’t a lot of information provided. Glad that I did come. This was amazing,” said Aliyah Hall, a Main Line Health nurse for four years.
Hall was selected from the crowd to help make the surprise announcement before nearly 100 of her fellow nurses.
“Thinking of everything that’s happened with COVID19, it’s just amazing someone would take their time to give back to the medical staff like this,” Hall said. “I am just overwhelmed with gratefulness for whoever donated this money. Definitely a blessing to everyone.”
The donation is especially meaningful for nurses like Matt Roberts, now in his eighth year.
“Main Line Health and Bryn Mawr Hospital saved my wife’s life and saved my baby’s life,” Roberts said. “So for me, it’s the fact that I can spend more time with my daughter and not take so much overtime – to actually get to see her smile more. That’s important to me.”
Hospital leaders say stories like these inspired the anonymous donor. The donor reached out after hearing about similar contributions made previously at another hospital.
Executive Director of Bryn Mawr Hospital Foundation, Cinda Johnson, says it’s keeping the chain reaction of generosity rolling.
“The Bryn Mawr Hospital donor has said many times they are getting more joy out of this than anybody else,” Johnson said.
A total of 173 nurses applied for a grant and were eligible for up to $3,600, the maximum that could be distributed without tax consequences to recipients, according to the hospital.
In all, more than 600 nurses across the four Main Line Health hospitals have benefited from $4.26 million in donations made since last year.
“It’s hard for them to balance work and life and their families. This just gives them a little extra,” said Elizabeth Connelly, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Main Line Health Hospitals.
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