UWF in the Community

UWF and Florida Blue celebrate partnership, announce $100,000 gift

The University of West Florida and Florida Blue hosted an event today in celebration of their long-time partnership, and announced a $100,000 gift to support UWF’s health-related programs.

The celebration highlighted Florida Blue’s impact on the education of Northwest Florida’s health care professionals through its continued support of UWF programs. Darnell Smith, North Florida Market President of Florida Blue, discussed Florida Blue’s continued role as a health solutions leader. The event also featured a showcase of student research projects focused on the improvement of health care.

“Every day, young professionals strive to receive their education in the health care field and often don’t have the tools or funds to do so,” said Darnell Smith. “Because of this, we are proud to support the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences at the University of West Florida that ultimately shares our same mission of helping people and communities achieve better health.”

The funds will be used to support UWF’s nursing, clinical lab sciences, medical informatics, doctor of physical therapy, public health, health sciences and pre-health professional degree programs. A portion of the gift will also support need- and performance-based scholarships and internships, as well as clinical externships and other experiences.

This gift, along with gifts from Florida Blue over the last decade, represent more than $800,000 in support of health and life sciences.

UWF currently has 1,814 students in our health programs and these students will dedicate their careers to helping other lead healthy lives,” said UWF President Judy Bense. “Investing in these students and their learning opportunities will pay dividends for generations to come. In fact, today’s gift and reaffirmation of our long standing partnership with Florida Blue will make a tremendous difference in shaping health care for our region and beyond.”

To learn more about how to give to the University, visit uwf.edu/give.