Methodist Healthcare announces gift to St. Mary’s University in support of Greehey School of Business

HCA Healthcare affiliate Methodist Healthcare recently announced that HCA Healthcare will gift $200,000 to St. Mary’s University’s Greehey School of Business to support scholarships, fellowships, and training for faculty in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.

This gift is part of HCA Healthcare’s larger commitment to give $10 million over three years to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).

St. Mary’s University, a Catholic and Marianist liberal arts university, is the oldest institution of higher education in San Antonio, Texas. It is also a nationally recognized Hispanic-Serving Institution, serving a diverse population of more than 3,000 students in a multicultural environment.

This gift will support at least four scholarships per year, over the next two years, for graduate students in the St. Mary’s Online MBA for Professionals program and seeking leadership roles. Funds will also provide support for students who serve as a graduate or research assistant to faculty members in the Greehey School of Business. All of these scholars will also have access to internship opportunities with Methodist Healthcare, as well as year-round leadership development and guest lecture opportunities.

“St. Mary’s University is thankful, not just for this generous gift, but also for the strong connection between our institutions, which will have a lasting impact on our MBA program, our faculty and the quality of the education St. Mary’s University provides,” said St. Mary’s University President Thomas M. Mengler, J.D.

In addition to funding scholarships, a portion of the gift will be dedicated to improving the online teaching methods for faculty in the MBA program. 

“We express our sincere gratitude to HCA Healthcare and Methodist Healthcare for their investment in St. Mary’s University and the Greehey School of Business,” said Rowena Ortiz-Walters, Dean of Greehey School of Business at St. Mary’s University. “This partnership, which we look forward to further cultivating, will create opportunities for access to higher education and leadership preparation for talented, diverse professionals. The scholar’s program will be the premier scholarship program within the St. Mary’s MBA program and will certainly help to develop the Hispanic healthcare leaders of tomorrow.”

HCA Healthcare has a history of partnering with higher education institutions to help create a more diverse workforce. Included among these partnerships:

• $620,000 to the University of California, Riverside (UCR) to support scholarships for students in the UCR School of Medicine.
• $1.5 million to Tennessee State University (TSU) to create scholarship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate school students pursuing careers in healthcare and computer science.
• $1.5 million to Fisk University to support scholarships for students pursuing healthcare careers and a dual degree with Galen College of Nursing.
• $750,000 to The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to create multiple graduate-degree opportunities for students interested in healthcare administration careers.
• $1.5 million was given to Florida International University’s (FIU) Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences (NWCNHS) to expand its faculty, offer scholarships to increase enrollment and help address the national nursing shortage.

Methodist Healthcare has been creating meaningful partnerships for over 50 years, focused on building community health awareness and enriching the professional landscape across South Texas. Earlier this year, Methodist Healthcare forged an historic agreement with The University of Incarnate Word (UIW) to provide affordable educational and developmental resources for staff and their families. Understanding the future prosperity of our community relies on international support, Methodist Healthcare aligned with the Alamo Colleges District in 2023 to provide international upskilling and workforce development opportunities for nurses from Mexico and Latin America.

About Methodist Healthcare:

Methodist Healthcare is a 50-50 co-ownership between Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc., South Texas’ largest non-public funding source of community health care for uninsured patients; and HCA Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services. This creates a unique partnership that ensures Methodist Healthcare Ministries continues to benefit the community by providing quality care to all and charitable care when needed. Methodist Healthcare invested $818 million in charity and indigent care to the community in 2022 alone. With over 30 facilities, including nine hospitals and nine freestanding emergency departments, over 732,783 ER, inpatients and outpatients are served annually. The Methodist Healthcare team is comprised of 13,500 staff, making the system the second largest private employer in San Antonio. With more than 3,400 credentialed physicians, Methodist Healthcare provides the largest array of medical services in the region, including neurosurgery, cardiovascular services, oncology and women’s services. And, with 25 surgical robots, Methodist Healthcare is a national leader in robotic surgery, as well as home to the nation’s largest Live Donor Kidney Transplant program and several Fortune/Merative Top 100 Hospitals in the nation for its outstanding quality outcomes. Visit SAHealth.com to learn more.