Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation Announces Winners of
2012 Procter & Gamble Endowed Scholarships

Bellevue, WA (June 19, 2012) – The Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation (NPHF) is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s NPHF/Procter & Gamble Endowed Scholarships.  Established in 2007, these awards are in two categories:  Community Service and Gastroenterology.  The Community Service Award recognizes a nurse practitioner student who is making a significant contribution to public service while pursuing graduate education.  The Gastroenterology Scholarship focuses on highlighting the importance of the field of gastroenterology by supporting a student with an interest in this area of practice.  The award will support an educational project, research, or a practice-related activity in gastroenterology. Two awards of $1,000 each were given to nurse practitioner students for their educational expenses.  There is one award given in each area.

Phyllis Zimmer, President, NPHF said,  “We greatly appreciate these endowed scholarships supported by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, as they recognize and support the work of nurse practitioner students, who are the future of our profession.”

NPHF/ Procter & Gamble Endowed Scholarship Winners

Community Service Endowed Scholarship

Sonia Rich Mazzeo, RN, BA (Barnegat, NJ)

Ms. Mazzeo is pursuing her Masters degree in the Community-based Family Nurse Practitioner Program at the Frontier Nursing University in Hyden, Kentucky.  Concurrently, she works as a hospice RN at the Cuidado Casero Hospice.  The NPHF/Procter & Gamble Endowed Scholarship recognizes Ms. Mazzeo’s work as co-founder and chairperson of Coastal Volunteers in Medicine, a registered public charity working to establish a free healthcare clinic for the uninsured in Ocean County, New Jersey.  She grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she first began her healthcare career as a volunteer in the maternity ward at the age of 16.  Ms. Mazzeo’s work at Coastal Volunteers in Medicine is focused on eliminating health disparities through creating access to healthcare, building equality, and protecting women’s rights. 

Gastroenterology Endowed Scholarship

Jordan Hopchik, MSN, FNP-BC, CGRN, Colonoscopist (Voorhees, NJ)

Mr. Hopchik is pursuing his Doctor of Nursing Practice at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Mr. Hopchik was the first nurse practitioner credentialed to carry out colonoscopy in the state of Pennsylvania and is nationally certified by the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates.  He works as a colonoscopist performing colorectal cancer screening at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and as a gastroenterology nurse practitioner.  Mr. Hopchik’s doctoral capstone project is to design and implement a formalized colonoscopy fellowship program for nurse practitioners at three VA Medical Centers in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  His plan is to take the program nationwide in the future.