Erica Foltz
WHERE SHE’S COMING FROM
Foltz begins the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program as an RN at Pennsylvania Hospital, working with the spine surgery team—but she originally hails from Lititz, a borough in Lancaster County to the west of Philadelphia.
A COMMITMENT TO DIGNITY
Foltz has devoted a significant part of her life to working with people experiencing homelessness—even before she became a Registered Nurse. She spent a decade witnessing barriers within the health care system for individuals living with serious mental illness and chronic homelessness, including stigma from providers—and that is what sparked her passion for patient advocacy and her interest in nursing. For at least the first three years after she started her nursing career she worked for some of Philadelphia’s most well-respected nonprofit organizations that provide housing and other services to homeless individuals, practicing harm reduction and building respectful relationships with her patients. Foltz says, “It is very humbling to be part of an individual’s journey from the first steps of engagement on street outreach to partnering with a patient on health goals or navigating the health care system.”
BRILLIANT MENTORS
While Foltz does not currently work with people experiencing homelessness, but the lessons learned from her previous work stay with her—predominantly because of the inspiring health care providers she encountered in that space. She names Lara Carson Weinstein, MD, MPH, DrPH and Kara Cohen, CRNP, AGPCNP-BC (a Penn Nursing alumna) as incredible role models who taught her the importance of patient advocacy and patient-centered care.
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Announcing the 2023 Lauder Fellows
The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) has named its second cohort of Fellows for the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program (LLCCNPP), and the group is comprised of nursing professionals from across the country who will begin full-time studies towards becoming a primary care nurse practitioner this fall. The Fellows will use this unique opportunity to further their education and clinical experience to help solve the challenges they see in their chosen field.
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Meet the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care NP Fellows
This fall, nine carefully chosen nurses from across the country will embark on their NP education at Penn—and thanks to a $125 million gift from Leonard A. Lauder W’54, they will emerge from the experience debt-free and ready to care for those who need their expertise most.
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Meet the First Lauder Fellows
Penn Nursing is excited to announce the inaugural cohort of the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program, comprised of Fellows from across the country who will begin full-time studies towards a nurse practitioner degree. They are the first-ever students in a pioneering, tuition-free program dedicated to building a nurse practitioner workforce committed to working in and with underserved communities, both rural and urban.