University of Hawaii names nursing school after PH-born nurse

Nancy Atmospera-Walch is the first immigrant woman to have a UH school named after her. UH

HONOLULU – Hawaii’s state university renamed its school of nursing after a distinguished Philippine-born nurse, the first immigrant woman to have University of Hawaii school named in her honor.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa officially named the school the Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing at a special dedication ceremony on Friday, May 20.

The UH Manoa Nursing alumna gave a confidential donation to the school “that will have an enduring impact on the quality of nursing education, student success, community service and the nursing profession,” a university press statement said.

“Everything that I have achieved in my profession I owe it to being a nurse. And being a nurse, I owe it to the University of Hawaii,” she said.

Atmospera-Walch was born and raised in Ilocos Sur in the Philippines and moved with her family to Hawaii after she graduated from high school. She has multiple degrees from the school of nursing.

Despite being initially discouraged from attending college, she went on to earn her AS ’71 and BS ’77 in nursing, MPH ’88 in health education and Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Organizational Leadership in 2017 at UH Manoa.

She received the 2017 Dean’s Scholarly Project Award in recognition of her project, “Improving Patient Safety Through Structural Empowerment,” which has been implemented nationwide.

Atmospera-Walch founded Advantage Health Care Provider Inc. in 2009, a local company that provides health care services and support to intellectually and developmentally disabled clients.

She is also the founder and CEO of AIM Healthcare Institute, a health care education and consulting company and worked for The Queen’s Medical Center for nearly 30 years.

 “Dr. Nancy Atmospera-Walch is a powerful role model for our students and her remarkable generosity sets an example for all,” said UH President David Lassner.