Thanks to a generous donation from the North Texas Specialty Physicians Charitable Fund, graduate students studying healthcare management and who plan to work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area after graduation can receive financial assistance through the Karen Van Wagner Health Leadership Fellowship.
Karen Van Wagner was a warrior not only in fighting cancer but also in her professional life. She obtained her doctorate at the age of 22, after which her professional accomplishments touched organizations across the country. Van Wagner performed social research in connection with Operation Push, taught statistics and sociology at Trinity University in Chicago and Kansas University, engaged in city management and founded a doctoral city management program, served as director of the Oklahoma Health Systems Agency and served as the director of planning and marketing for Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Ultimately, Fort Worth, Texas, became Van Wagner’s professional home base. She spent many years as a hospital administrator at Harris Hospital. Then, she and three specialty physicians formed the North Texas Specialty Physicians (NTSP), a business that would impact the Fort Worth health management, provider and general health care system in and far beyond Fort Worth. Van Wagner sat on several boards, including the Board of Managers of Tarrant County Hospital District. She was asked to share her expertise with and provide input to the Texas Governor’s office, federal congressional health care committees and the White House.
NTSP is an independent physician association comprised of more than 600 primary care and specialty physicians dedicated to delivering the best medical care to North Texans. Since its founding in 1995, NTSP doctors have delivered high-quality medical care to more than 15,000 patients every workday. NTSP established the North Texas Specialty Physicians Charitable Fund in 2009 to partner with community organizations to improve healthcare in North Texas.
“The board of directors wanted to honor Dr. Van Wagner’s dedication to developing outstanding models of care through a scholarship fund to ensure future healthcare delivery systems are led by the brightest and most innovative students in North Texas,” said Regina L. Sobieski, NTSP Charitable Fund foundation director.
“We are greatly honored by the Karen Van Wagner Health Leadership Fellowship for the education of the future healthcare leaders in the DFW community,” said Dr. Forney Fleming, director of the Jindal School’s MS in Healthcare Management program. “This fellowship is a fitting memorial to the contributions made by Dr. Van Wagner.”
