ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Nurses are among the health care professionals needed most in during the local hospital staffing crisis. Rochester Regional Health is paying tribute to a nursing pioneer in its recruiting effort.

As nurse practitioner Celia McIntosh knows, the cost of education is a big deterrent for students deciding whether or not to choose nursing, especially for students in low-income communities.

“When you think about having to do clinicals and having to be up multiple hours in the day trying to study and trying to understand the material … you’re not able to work as much, therefore you need some financial compensation,” said McIntosh.

So McIntosh decided to help Rochester Regional Health combat that need with a scholarship in honor of Rosa Wims, the first African American aide to work at Rochester General Hospital who eventually became a licensed practical nurse.

“When we came to her to tell her that we wanted to start a scholarship fund in her honor, she couldn’t believe that anybody was willing to give money just in her name," said former Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson.

The Rosa Wims Scholarship is only eligible for African American students as a way to not only promote nursing, but also to promote diversity in the nursing field.  

“What we know is that Black nurses account for 8-9% of the nursing population," said McIntosh. "Patients actually do better when they have providers that look like them and are very relatable and understand some of the issues that they face within the health care system.”

That makes the Rosa Wims Scholarship something that McIntosh said she strongly believes in.  

“Her scholarship promotes diversifying the workforce, promotes nursing students and education and training, that aligns with my vision because I too was a nursing student and being a single mom as a nursing student has its own sets of challenges and barriers," McIntosh said.

And although those barriers can seem limitless, contributors feel that doing their best to help students financially is a good place to start.  

“Any student who is interested in the career of nursing should not let financial barriers come in the way of that," said Dr. Victoria Record, president of the Rochester General College of Health Careers and the Isabella Grahm Heart Practical School of Nursing. “The scholarship certainly says this is not a barrier to becoming a nurse."

And as Wims turns 100 this year, the scholarship will honor her by allowing her to continue making an impact on future generations of nurses.

“I have tremendous admiration for the work she did before I met her, and even into her 90s, the work that she continued to do," Johnson said.

“The message that it sends specifically for me is that I matter as a Black nurse," McIntosh said. "That tells me that someone that looks like you has actually been there and actually reached those goals, and it really sends a message that I can do it, too.”