Bellarmine University alumnus donates $1.725 million to expand the Doctor of Nursing Practice-Nurse Anesthesia program

Dr. Mushtaque Juneja, an alumnus of Bellarmine University, has donated $1.725 million to the university in order to expand and improve its Doctor of Nursing Practice-Nurse Anesthesia program, which has been renamed the Bellarmine University Juneja Nurse Anesthesia Program.

According to an article on Bellarmine University’s website, Dr. Carly Mitchell, who is the director of the DNP-NA program, which was accredited in the early part of 2023, expressed her gratitude for the donation, saying, “We are extremely grateful for this generous gift from Dr. Mushtaque Juneja, which is a continuation of his commitment to Bellarmine, our Nurse Anesthesia residents, and the entire anesthesia profession. This gift will support the development of a state-of-the-art simulation center equipped with high-fidelity mannequins, Point-of-Care-Ultrasound simulators, and trainers for airway management and invasive skills.”

Dr. Susan M. Donovan, who is the president of Bellarmine University, also expressed her thanks for Dr. Juneja’s gift, saying, “Bellarmine’s new nurse anesthesia program reinforces Bellarmine’s role as a leader in healthcare education that can quickly develop new offerings which are responsive to community needs. Making that happen requires support from donors like Dr. Juneja. I am very appreciative of the impact his gift will have for our students and ultimately for their patients.”

The program received interest from more than 300 applicants in its second semester of existence, leading to the decision to accept 20 candidates in this cohort after only accepting 18 in the first one.

Having graduated with his MBA from Bellarmine in 2000, Dr. Juneja has a storied career in healthcare, real estate, and entrepreneurship. He helped start a nurse anesthesia school with Texas Wesleyan University, was a founding member of Bellarmine’s Rubel School of Business Executive Advisory Board, and practices at Norton Hospital in downtown Louisville and Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital in St. Matthews. 

Along with his wife Dr. Samina Juneja, he has financially supported projects at Bellarmine University for several years. Among the projects the couple has lent financial support are paying for the construction of Ponte Juneja Bridge and named the Eva Vivienne Juneja Study Room in their granddaughter’s memory. 

Nurse anesthetists are part of a growing field that offers high salaries. They are needed in almost every area of healthcare and there is currently a shortage of nurse anesthetists, something Dr. Juneja believes Bellarmine University can help fix: “Bellarmine has a big opportunity to expand in this area, no question.”

He went on to describe what he feels is the best part of the job, saying, “You are relieving the suffering of pain in mankind. I think ultimately helping other humans is a service. You feel good about it because you can make somebody smile in their misery. What could be more than that?”

For more information about Bellarmine University, visit the school’s website.