As we close out 2021 and begin 2022, I was hoping we could be celebrating a very different entrance into the new year. I was anticipating we would be coming to the end of the pandemic with people having the freedom to enjoy each other’s company. And while this was not to be the case this holiday season, we continue to face the challenges that are put before us and make the most out of what is not always the best of situations. This is what we do as health care providers and this is what we do as the IHP community.  

A perfect example of this can be seen in the many successes that we, as a community, experienced during one of the hardest years in the life of most academic institutions. We welcomed 664 students who chose to enter the complexities of health care to improve the lives of others. Students in all of our professional disciplines joined the IHP with the courage to participate in classes and engage in clinical practice at a time when health care delivery is so difficult. Their choice to embrace this challenge is a testament of their commitment to their profession.  

We also were successful in living the tenets of the Commit @ IHP program. While we have had an occasional cluster of positive Covid cases, there has not been a campus-wide spread which allowed us to keep the campus open for in-person classes. Our students, faculty, and staff were selfless in working to keep our community safe by following the science, and we have seen the results.  

Thanks to the tenacity and sheer spirit of our faculty and staff, we continued to provide an exemplary education to our students and prepare them for a future we know will be challenging. How faculty continued to help our students learn in new ways and acquire new skills is very different than what was done before the pandemic. It allowed us to graduate almost all of our students on time and launch them into professions where the need for them continues to grow.  

Our research enterprise, begun just 10 years ago, continued to distinguish itself as it crossed over the $25 million mark in the size of its overall portfolio. Our researchers did not skip a beat in 2021, continuing their important work and securing new grants to help shape the way health care is provided.  

I recognize how incredibly hard every member of our community is working right now and the emotional and physical stresses each of you have endured over the last 22 months. So, while 2022 is not the start of a new year I thought we would be experiencing, I continue to be hopeful about our future.  I am inspired by our faculty who have never given up providing our stellar students with an excellent education. I am excited about the 94 new nursing students who in just a couple of weeks will join the IHP and take the brave step of studying to become a nurse, as well as the seven in the PhD in HPED and one in the Masters in HPEd programs who also will be starting to advance their careers. And I admire each member of the IHP community who continues to innovate and support each other while looking for the best in everyone every day.  

As many of you know, I am a glass half-full kind of person so I am seeing the new year through that lens. I am hopeful the pandemic finally begins to subside and create a new reality that allows us to reengage in activities that are so much a part of who we are at the IHP. I know we will work to keep each other safe, allowing our students to progress toward their chosen profession. And I know we will continue to support each other as we have done over the last two years. 

Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and healthy 2022.  

Paula