Donna and Paul Poduska met at Poudre Valley Hospital in 1969, spending their entire careers there. After 101 years of combined service at the hospital—50 for Donna and 51 for Paul—they retired on Feb. 28. The Donna and Paul Poduska Endowed Scholarship Fund has been established to honor the impact this dedicated pair has had on our health care system, and the foundation is inviting contributions to the scholarship.
Donna started as a nurse at PVH in 1969 and gradually moved into management. Over the course of her career at PVH, she held leadership roles in surgical, quality assurance, specialty services and resource services, and ultimately as the hospital’s chief nursing officer.
Donna was the driving force behind PVH receiving its first Magnet designation in 2000 and has been instrumental in the hospital’s five Magnet re-designations since then. Organizations that achieve this designation are recognized for their superior nursing processes and patient care.
Paul began his PVH career in 1968 as an orderly. In the early 1970s, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance, and it was then that Paul began developing a specialty in preventing health care–associated infections. He obtained certifications in microbiology and infection prevention and control, becoming PVH’s infection preventionist in 1977.
Paul is a nationally-known expert in his field, and his dedication to disease prevention has saved lives. “We benchmark ourselves against the top 10 hospitals in the United States for our infection disease rates,” says Kevin Unger, president and CEO of PVH, MCR, and the UCHealth Northern Region. “Paul has done a great job to keep those rates low. That’s what he’s dedicated his life to.”
With the Donna and Paul Poduska Endowed Scholarship Fund, we honor Donna’s support of the Magnet nursing leadership status and Paul’s dedication to patient safety through infection control. Funds from this scholarship will be awarded to applicants who demonstrate financial need and seek advanced education in infection prevention and control or a bachelor’s or advanced degree in nursing.
Contribute to the scholarship
An endowed scholarship is an ideal way to ensure the Poduskas’ lifeworks are continued by the generations that follow them. To contribute to the scholarship fund, visit the foundation’s Donate page and select “Donna and Paul Poduska Scholarship” from the Designation menu.