SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (ABP) — Police in Springfield, Mo., are investigating the suspected embezzlement of more than $500,000 from a nursing school operated jointly by a Baptist university and a Catholic hospital.
The Springfield News-Leader reported March 11 that St. John's College of Nursing and Health Sciences told police about the missing money on March 5. The college is operated in partnership between St John's Mercy Health System and Southwest Baptist University, a four-year school with 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students in nearby Bolivar, Mo.
The paper quoted a spokesperson of the nursing school who said one employee had been fired and the matter turned over to police. The article quoted an officer who said an arrest had been made, but the suspect's name was being withheld until charges are filed.
A television station said the same suspect is also being investigated for theft from a public-school Parent Teacher Organization in the Springfield suburb of Republic, Mo.
The Southwest Baptist University website describes the St John's College of Nursing and Health Sciences as "a unique venture between two faith-based institutions" that "offers programs in nursing that reflect its strong Judeo-Christian heritage."
The college offers both associate and bachelor's degrees in nursing, drawing on the legacy of two historic faith-based institutions.
Southwest Baptist University was founded in 1878 and is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention. St. John's Health System was founded in Springfield, Mo., in 1891 by the Sisters of Mercy as a Catholic institution. The St. John's School of Nursing began in 1905.
Representatives of the university and hospital began working in the mid-1980s to combine their efforts to meet nursing needs in the local and regional communities. The nursing school began partnering with Southwest Baptist University to offer professional nursing degrees in 1996.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.