2009 HEALTH CARE CAREER SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS TO BE INTRODUCED

(May 27, 2009 – Portland) Even in the midst of this harsh recession, opportunities in the health care field are projected to grow in the next two years. But with unemployment and tuition costs rising, college is feeling increasingly out of reach to many young Oregonians.

This year, the Kaiser Permanente Health Care Career Scholarship was created to help young people reach their dreams of attending college and pursuing a career in health care.

The program, administered by the Oregon Health Career Center, will award $2,000 scholarships to one student from each of 100 high schools from the Kaiser Permanente Service area, which spans from Longview-Kelso to Salem. Students applied for the scholarship through a competitive process. They were all nominated by a teacher, met the required minimum GPA, and wrote an essay evaluated by the selection committee. Preference was given to families with no parental college experience, who show a demonstrated financial need, who are members of an ethnic or racial group underrepresented in the health care profession, and who speak English plus a second language.

The first 100 winners of the Kaiser Permanente Health Care Careers Scholarship will be honored at an awards ceremony on Saturday, May 30. The celebration will take place at the PCC Sylvania Campus, PAC Auditorium, from 2:00 -- 4:00 p.m.

Many of the winners, like Veronica Nunez Soto of Gervais, are the first in their families to attend college. She plans to attend Oregon Institute of Technology for the dental hygienist program. “College will give me the chance to succeed in life and have a good future,” she said.

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.

NOTE: VERONICA NUNEZ SOTO AND JEREMY YABLOKOV, ANOTHER SCHOLARSHIP WINNER, ARE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS