Rockford Health System to award minority scholarships

Rockford Health System and the Rockford Memorial Hospital Auxiliary will present scholarships Tuesday to four area minority women to help them pursue careers in nursing.

Cristina Rodriguez and Erika Martinez, who will study at Rock Valley College; Kenyetta Watkins, who will study at Northern Illinois University; and Sara Shoulders, who will study at Saint Anthony College of Nursing, will receive $2,000 each for the 2008-09 school year in a presentation at noon in the hospital cafeteria.

The women have made no formal commitment to work at Rockford Health System. The scholarships are being awarded to promote diversity in the local health-care work force.

“Our goal is to help remove financial barriers for minority students interested in becoming nurses,” Rockford Health System President & CEO Gary Kaatz said. “We want our nurses to truly reflect the diverse population of this community.”

Nationally, 87 percent of all nurses are Caucasian, 4.9 percent are African-American and 2 percent are Hispanic.