Kaweah Health and Unitek College Celebrate 13 Nursing Graduates
January 29, 2026
Kaweah Health recently honored 13 graduates of its nursing school partnership with Unitek College. The inaugural graduation, held on Friday, Jan. 23, celebrated a program that began in 2022 to address the nursing shortage in Tulare County.
During and after the pandemic, local hospitals struggled to find registered nurses, while those interested in nursing school found it increasingly difficult to secure limited slots at local community and private colleges. In response, Kaweah Health partnered with Unitek to offer an on-site nursing school where employees could advance their careers while continuing to work in their current roles.
“Kaweah Health believed in something bold,” said Dianne Cox, Kaweah Health's Chief Human Resources Officer. “By building this program, we didn't just educate nurses — we reimagined what workforce development can look like in healthcare. These graduates are living proof that this vision works.”
Known as the Kaweah Health Nursing Education Pathway powered by Unitek College, the program currently has 160 employees enrolled. This unique opportunity allows qualified Kaweah Health employees to work and attend school simultaneously. Unitek offers students a special tuition rate, and Kaweah Health helps offset those costs and provides flexible scheduling to accommodate classes. Graduates commit to working at Kaweah Health for three years after earning their degrees.
For graduate LeeAnn Souza, a pharmacy technician and biller, this program offered her the flexibility to balance her work, home, and school life.
“The best part was being able to stay at Kaweah Health while going back to school,” Souza said. “After 12 years here, I didn’t want to start over somewhere else. This program let me grow without having to leave.”
The graduates earned their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The program typically takes at least three years to complete. However, this cohort consisted of students who already had some of the prerequisites, shortening their experience to two years.
The graduates are
- Marisol Andrade
- Melissa Cisneros, salutatorian
- Miranda Figueroa
- Alexsandra Gamboa
- Isabella Celine Gonzalez, valedictorian
- David James
- Lyndin Jensen
- Alexandra Kennedy
- Morghan Nixon
- Maddison Leigh Pimentel
- LeeAnn D. Souza
- Aneissa Velasco
- Anyssa Wall
