Eleven Montana students preparing for a career in the health care field have been awarded the second annual New West Health Care for Montanans Scholarship. The scholarship program is designed to help these students pursue careers in fields where there is a shortage of medical professionals. Recipients in four-year or graduate degree programs will each receive a $2,000 scholarship for the 2009-2010 school year. Recognizing two-year programs provide valuable health care education, two pilot scholarships of $1,000 were awarded for the 2009-2010 academic year.
“These eleven talented students represent the future of health care in the state of Montana,” said David Kibbe, President and CEO of New West Health Services. “We received 56 excellent applications this year. Narrowing the list to eleven was difficult. Montana is blessed with some very caring and hardworking students.”
The recipients of the scholarship are:
• Nicole E. Brierie, Missoula, Senior in Exercise Science and Human Biology at UM-Missoula
• Kelly D. Burningham, Bozeman, Graduate Student in Masters of Public Health at UM-Missoula
• Christine J. Faulkner, Joliet, Graduate Student in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling at MSU-Billings
• Jason W. Gorsegner, Missoula, 2nd Year Student in Radiologic Technology at UM-College of Technology, Missoula ($1,000)
• John P. Grossarth, Missoula, Junior in Nursing at UM-Missoula
• Heather N. Holling, Helena, Junior in Nursing at MSU-Bozeman
• Kendra E. Kamerzel, Clancy, Senior in Nursing at Montana Tech, Butte
• Sarah E. Kromer, Helena, Senior in Nursing at Carroll College, Helena
• N. Kathleen McGuire, Helena, Graduate Student in MN-Clinical Nurse Leadership at MSU-Bozeman
• Katherine M. Mitchell, St. Ignatius, Senior in Nursing at MSU-Bozeman
• Mary L. Wagoner, Kalispell, 2nd Year Student in AS-BSRN at Flathead Valley Community College, Kalispell ($1,000)
The application process was open to all Montana residents entering their junior or senior year or enrolled in a graduate program majoring in a professional health care field, such as nursing or public health. Students were required to have a GPA of at least 3.0 and financial need to be eligible for the scholarship. Interest in pursuing a health care career in the state of Montana after graduation is also critical.
New West Health Services expects to continue the scholarship into the future. Applications for the next round of scholarships will be available in late January 2010 for the 2010-2011 academic year. Future applicants can visit the New West website for more information: http://newwesthealth.com/home/about/scholarships.
New West Health Services is Montana’s provider sponsored health insurance corporation. Headquartered in Helena, with its Operations Center in Kalispell and regional offices in Billings and Missoula New West employee 100 Montanans . The New West mission is to connect Montanans to good health care in a simplified way. New West Health Services was founded in 1997 by a group of Montana community hospitals and physicians, and today partners with more than 3,300 medical providers. The company has over 43,000 members and serves more than 630 individual businesses. New West offers a full line of products – including managed care, traditional insurance for employer groups and individual consumers, as well as Medicare Advantage. Please visit http://www.newwesthealth.com for more information.
