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

Each of this year’s Multicultural Health Committee scholarship winners received $1,000 awards toward their health care education. They are:

• Aleksandra M. Predota, RN, of Portsmouth, RI. A native of Poland and fluent in Polish, Predota is pursuing her bachelor of science degree in nursing at Salve Regina University in Newport. She is employed as a visiting registered nurse with Family Lives and staff registered nurse at Saint Anne’s Hospital.
• Brandon Torres, of Westport. A graduate of Westport High School where he was varsity soccer captain and vice president of the National Honor Society, Torres is a fourth-year student in the pharmacy program at the University of Rhode Island. He also has been employed as a pharmacy technician at Saint Anne’s Hospital since 2011 and plans to apply for a residency in pharmacy, with the goal of becoming a clinical transplant pharmacist.
• Brianna Raposo, of Fall River. A Top Ten 2015 graduate of B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River, Raposo is enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania where she will major in biology/pre-med and minor in women’s studies, with the goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. Proficient in Portuguese, she has served as a volunteer at Saint Anne’s Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and Employee Health Services.
• Emma E. Porto, of North Dartmouth. A 2014 graduate of Dartmouth High School, Porto is enrolled at Quinnipiac University with a major in nursing. Fluent in Portuguese, she completed a nursing internship at Pediatric Associates of New Bedford in her senior year of high school and has worked as a clinical assistant/chart conversion clerk in a multispecialty physician practice. She is a member of the Quinnipiac Student Nurses Association and has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

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 education 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 $64,000 to students who are enrolled in health career education and have demonstrated leadership, bilingual and/or bicultural skills, community involvement, and financial need.

To learn more about Saint Anne’s Hospital’s Multicultural Health Committee’s scholarship programs for healthcare students, call Saint Anne's Hospital 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 System LLC, the largest community-based accountable 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, The Leapfrog Group, and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

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