Press Releases: Northwest
February 25, 2010
2010 Health Care Career Scholarship Winners to Be Introduced
PORTLAND, Ore. — Kaiser Permanente Northwest and the Oregon Health Career Center are committed to launching young people into careers in health care in Oregon and southwest Washington. It’s well known that rising tuition costs threaten to put college out of reach for many families. That’s why these two organizations joined together to create the Kaiser Permanente Health Care Careers Scholarship Program in 2008. The scholarships help young people reach their dreams of attending college and pursuing careers in health care, opportunities which are projected to grow by 25% over the next ten years.
The program will award 129 $2,000 scholarships on May 22nd to students from 113 high schools in the Kaiser Permanente service area, which spans from Longview-Kelso, Washington to Salem, Oregon. The Oregon Health Career Center administers the program. Students applied for the scholarship through a competitive process. All were nominated by a teacher and met the required qualifications, which include a minimum 2.5 GPA, attendance at a program-approved high school, and a commitment to pursuing a career in a medical or dental health care field. Preference was given to students from families with no parental college experience, who show a demonstrated financial need, who are members of an ethnic or racial group underrepresented in a health care profession, and who speak English plus a second language.
Many of the scholarship winners, like Juan Ugarte of Liberty High School in Hillsboro, are the first in their families to attend college. Juan plans to attend the University of Oregon to study pre-medicine and Latin Language and Literature. “A college degree will make my parents proud and make me a role model for my younger sisters. Most importantly, it's something I will earn for myself.”
For Kaiser Permanente leadership, the scholarship is a great way to give deserving young people a boost. “We want to help them get to college and into the health care field, where they can use their skills to care for others and build a productive career,” said Andy McCulloch, president, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest.
This year’s 129 Kaiser Permanente Health Care Career Scholarship winners will be honored at an awards ceremony on Saturday, May 22. The celebration will take place at the Portland Community College (PCC) Sylvania Campus, PAC Auditorium, at 2:00 p.m.
NOTE: Juan Ugarte and Lulu Tang, another scholarship winner, are available for interviews.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to www.kp.org/newscenter.
