HERMISTON, Ore.-The Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation has awarded $86,500 in scholarships for the 2025–2026 academic year.
“We are proud to support students and professionals who are dedicating their lives to caring for others,” said Liz Marvin, Executive Director of the GSCH Foundation. “These scholarships represent our investment in the future of healthcare in our region.”
Scholarships were awarded to recipients in three groups, according to the Foundation, including $41,000 to college students, $31,500 to Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) employees who wish to continue their education and $9,000 to graduating high school seniors.
The Foundation contributed $81,500 of the total scholarship money from its own funds, while Tualatin Imaging contributed an additional $5,000.
Several of the scholarships awarded were funded through named funds and donations from private donors, including the Sallie Clemons Scholarship fund, which contributed $8,000 for four GSHCS employees to continue their education.
“This scholarship has eased some of the burden of pursuing further education,” said Frederick Kim, a GSHCS employee and 2025 scholarship recipient. “I am currently working full-time in an effort to afford schooling, and the Sallie Clemons Scholarship is a great help in paying for a portion of that.”
Sallie Clemons, her husband Leroy, and their family moved to Hermiston in 1976. When the youngest of their six children left home for college, Sallie also went back to school, becoming a Registered Nurse.
“She was wonderful to work with,” said Kathy Mallory, the former Vice President of Nursing at Good Shepherd. “She loved all the babies and was almost like another mom.”
Clemons worked in the Family Birth Center at GSHCS for 14 years, teaching comprehensive childbirth and breastfeeding classes, and helping deliver babies. She was named “Nurse of the Year,” “Employee of the Year” and won the “Christmas Spirit Award” during her time as a nurse, and her teaching extended beyond expectant mothers.
“I was a relatively new nurse when I joined the birth center,” said Kyle Furukawa, RNC, IT Clinical Informatics at GSHCS. “Her guidance was instrumental in my growth as a nurse.”
A talented baker, Clemons was also known for bringing cookies to work every day and leaving sweet treats for Doctors and Nurses.
“She had a heart of gold,” said Furukawa. “I’m so grateful for the patience and dedication she showed me.”
In retirement Clemons worked with the hospital auxiliary and thrift shop, helped manage the Jr Volunteers and took blood pressure at the Hermiston and Stanfield Senior Centers.
“Sallie always remembered families if they came back to have another child or just to say hello,” said Mallory. “She was easy to work with and always good for a laugh. It was a joy to have her on our team.
Clemons passed away in 2024 at the age of 90, and Leroy and the Clemons family established the scholarship to honor her time as an RN and her enduring legacy at Good Shepherd.
A legacy that Kim, who is currently in a Family Nurse Practitioner Masters Degree Program through United States University, and the other 2025 scholarship recipients will continue.
“It felt great, like a weight was being lifted off my shoulders,” Kim said of finding out he’d been awarded a Sallie Clemons Scholarship. “I hope other students are able to experience this feeling going forward and that they appreciate Sallie Clemons and the Hermiston community for this opportunity.”
More information about the Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation and its scholarship programs is available online.
