An Inquirer article inspired an anonymous $1 million donation to pay off nurses’ student loans at Paoli Hospital

Damacia Gilbert, one of the first nurses at Paoli Hospital to spot the email in her inbox last month, rushed to her first meeting of the day with the news.

A single mother, Gilbert has picked up extra shifts every month to make ends meet, always worried about her next student loan payment and affording preschool for her son.

No longer would she be so pressed. An anonymous donor had just given the hospital $1 million to help its nurses pay off their student loans.

“Every little bit helps; to have any amount of money freed up every month is amazing,” she said.

It’s the second donation of its kind this year at Main Line Health. In June, The Inquirer published an article about an anonymous $1 million donation to cover nurses’ student loans at Lankenau Medical Center.

The report inspired another donor to give $1 million to Paoli Hospital, where they receive their healthcare, said Bernadette Weis, vice president of patient care services at Paoli.

The latest donor is particularly interested in funding educational causes, Weis said. “I think that’s what piqued their interest when they saw the article. It’s directly impacting the education of our nursing team,” she said.

So far this year, the Lankenau donation has resulted in 179 nurses receiving up to $3,600 apiece to pay for outstanding student loans. (Payments are capped to help participants avoid paying higher taxes.)

Another cohort of nurses is set to receive a second set of payments next year. Every eligible nurse who expressed interest in the program was able to receive funds.

The Paoli program will likely work similarly, Weis said.

Nurses at Lankenau who received student-loan help say they’re excited for other Main Line nurses to benefit.

“I could not believe it was a thing that was happening for us. I don’t even have words — just the opportunity to take a break from having to worry about getting these loans paid off, it just meant so much,” said Donna Williams, a nurse in Lankenau’s cardiac intensive care unit.

Williams has been a nurse for eight years and still has about $13,000 in loans to pay. Last year, her mother died; Williams had taken time off to care for her while also supporting her spouse, who was herself in nursing school.

“We took a hit financially, and then this grant popped up. It was meant-to-be, perfect timing,” Williams said.

Now Paoli nurses are excited to sign up for the program.

Ryan Joyce, the unit secretary in Paoli’s emergency department, is splitting his time between his full-time job and a full course load of nursing classes at Montgomery County Community College.

“This is going to pretty much help me pay off an entire semester,” he said.

Though Main Line also provides employees studying nursing with some tuition reimbursements, loans for nursing school can be steep.

“I feel cross-eyed staring at the final [loans] number,” Joyce said, laughing. “It’s amazing someone was generous enough to supply us with this.”