Winners include area health care students pursuing careers in occupational therapy and nursing

Fall River, MA – Two area students pursuing higher education in a health care career have been named winners of the 2014 Saint Anne’s Hospital Multicultural Health Committee scholarships.

Comprising a cross-section of the area’s cultural communities and agencies, Saint Anne’s Hospital’s Multicultural Health Committee was created in 1985 to assist the hospital in reducing barriers to the multicultural community and improving its access to health education.

In 1987, the committee launched the scholarship program to encourage area bilingual or bicultural students to pursue educations in health care. Scholarships are available to employees of Saint Anne’s Hospital and other area students. Since its inception, the program has awarded more than $60,000 to students who are enrolled in health career education and have demonstrated leadership, bilingual and/or bicultural skills, community involvement, and financial need.

This year’s Multicultural Health Committee scholarship winners received $1,000 awards. They are:

• Ana D’Abruzzo, of Acushnet. A member of the support staffs of the Robert F. Stoico/FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care, Office of Community Health and Volunteer Services at Saint Anne’s Hospital, D’Abruzzo is enrolled at Bristol Community College. Fluent in Portuguese, she has been accepted into the occupational therapy assistant program.
• Emma E. Porto, of North Dartmouth. A recent graduate of Dartmouth High School and member of the National Honor Society, Porto plans to major in nursing at Quinnipiac University. She is fluent in Portuguese, took part in a nursing internship at Pediatric Associates of New Bedford in her senior year, and volunteered extensively throughout her high school career.

For more information about Saint Anne’s Hospital’s Multicultural Health Committee’s scholarship programs for healthcare students, call Natalia Konarski, manager of Interpreter Services, 508-235-5234.

About Saint Anne’s Hospital – Saint Anne’s Hospital is a community hospital with comprehensive inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care services, serving adults and children from southeastern Massachusetts and nearby Rhode Island at its main campus in Fall River and its community satellites. Founded in 1906 by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, Saint Anne's Hospital is a member of Steward Health Care, the largest fully integrated community care organization in New England. Saint Anne’s has been recognized time and again for quality, safety and service by such organizations as The Joint Commission, Healthgrades, The Leapfrog Group, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. 

Steward Health Care System LLC is the largest integrated community care organization in New England which combines more than 3,000 physicians, 11 acute care hospitals, managed care, insurance programs, home care, an imaging operation, and a number of other post-acute services, to provide the most cost effective and highest quality of integrated patient care.

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