Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia shares an important message about this historic day as the university launches two new schools: the School of Nursing and the School of Health.

Earlier this morning, Edward B. Healton, MD, MPH, Executive Vice President for Health Sciences, shared his reflections about the significance of this day in a message to the Georgetown University Medical Center community.

In December 2020, President DeGioia announced the sunsetting of the School of Nursing & Health Studies and the creation of two standalone schools. The School of Health and the School of Nursing were borne out of the Health Sciences Strategy Initiative, a university-wide strategic planning initiative to chart the future of health sciences at Georgetown to “allow us to unlock new potential and achieve our ambitions in these disciplines.”

A moment nearly three years in the making, Georgetown has launched the School of Health. “This is a transformative moment for Georgetown,” says Christopher J. King, PhD, MHSc, FACHE, the school's dean.

As Georgetown launches its School of Nursing, its dean, Roberta Waite, EdD, PMHCNS, RN, MSN, ANEF, FAAN, is uniquely poised to lead the school as dean, bringing her decades of experience working to advance health equity.

Carrying on a Georgetown tradition of helping pilgrims seeking a healing experience at the Sanctuary Our Lady of Lourdes in France, 13 rising junior and senior nursing students put cura personalis into practice this summer by focusing on the spiritual care of those who traveled to the holy site from around the world.

Georgetown undergraduates taking part in the Translational Health Science Internship in Argentina learned what patients with respiratory viruses experience by seeing how discoveries are made at the molecular level and then applying this knowledge to diagnosing patients.

In September, the School of Nursing and School of Health will welcome Sister Celeste Mokrzycki, SSJ, as the part-time chaplain for the schools; she will be located in St. Mary’s Hall. Sr. Mokrzycki is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia. She has worked as an art teacher, a pastoral counselor, and for the past several years, she served as parish coordinator for a cluster of inner-city parishes in Atlantic City and as vocation director for her religious community. Sr. Mokrzycki plans to continue her work as an artist after joining Georgetown. Fluent in Polish, Sr. Mokrzycki put her language skills to work this past March by working with a group of nuns assisting Ukrainian refugees fleeing into Poland.

We’ve created this brief checklist to help you transition your business office from the School of Nursing & Health Studies to the School of Health or School of Nursing.