Rural Heath Network Awards Scholarships

Written by: John DeRousie, Custom Marketing Solutions
Fulton, NY – The Rural Health Network of Oswego County (RHN) has announced its scholarship winners for 2012.

Awarded annually, the RHN of Oswego County scholarships are given to residents of Oswego County who are looking to further their career in the medical field.

The Rural Health Network of Oswego County recently awarded scholarships to five Oswego County individuals who are furthering their careers in the health field. From left are: Coordinator of the Rural Health Network of Oswego County, Danielle Wert; scholarship winners Julia Batchelor and Hali Peter, and Daniel Dey, MBA, FACHE, chief executive officer, Northern Oswego County Health Services, Inc.  Absent from the photo are scholarship winners Dorese Vecchio, Morgan Mears, and Steven DeLisle.
The Rural Health Network of Oswego County recently awarded scholarships to five Oswego County individuals who are furthering their careers in the health field. From left are: Coordinator of the Rural Health Network of Oswego County, Danielle Wert; scholarship winners Julia Batchelor and Hali Peter, and Daniel Dey, MBA, FACHE, chief executive officer, Northern Oswego County Health Services, Inc. Absent from the photo are scholarship winners Dorese Vecchio, Morgan Mears, and Steven DeLisle.

While age or specific health field does not limit the award, candidates must demonstrate that they understand and are committed to removing the barriers residents living in rural areas face in accessing quality health care.

The primary goal of the scholarships is to boost the health care workforce in Oswego County.

Danielle Wert, coordinator of the RHN, said that 36 applications were submitted for the five scholarships that were available.

“I was pleased to see that we received more applications this year,” said Wert.  “We were very impressed with the quality of the candidates we had to choose from.  However, the five winners we chose truly stood out from the rest.  They provided all the requirements that the scholarship called for and clearly showed how they had gone above and beyond, either through volunteer work or through their studies, to improve health care in rural communities.”

Recipients of the scholarships from the RHN of Oswego County are:

Julia Batchelor – An Oswego High School graduate working toward obtaining a degree as a Registered Nurse. Julia has worked for the Head Start program in the past and is currently a childcare provider in Fulton. She looks forward to providing quality care by treating the whole person in rural areas.

Steven DeLisle – A Fulton High School graduate, he will work toward obtaining a pre-Physical Therapy degree from Oneonta State and then hopes to continue his education at Upstate Medical University.  Steven looks forward to helping to reduce the pain and suffering of the patients within his community.

Morgan Mears – An Oswego High School graduate, Morgan is working toward her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy from D’Youville College in Buffalo. Morgan has worked with the developmentally disabled population through the YMCA.  She looks forward to assisting people to become independent, healthier and more educated, and wishes to offer both rehabilitation and teach life skills to people in her community.  She feels that this can be done in the home care setting because this is where many people perform their daily activities.

Hali Peter – A Mexico High School graduate, Hali is working toward obtaining a Bachelors degree in Nursing at LeMoyne College.  Upon graduation, she would like to be a traveling nurse in rural areas in need.  Hali believes that it’s important that people get the health care that they need regardless of where they live.  She looks forward to increasing the comfort of others when they are going through a difficult time with an illness or injury.

Dorese Vecchio – An APW High School graduate, Dorese is working toward obtaining her degree as a Dental Hygienist at Monroe Community College in Rochester.  For the past six years, Dorese has been working as a Registered Dental Assistant at NOCHSI in Pulaski.  She is furthering her education because she wants to be a better educator for her patients, she wants the ability to treat patients and brighten their smiles, the opportunity to have more individual time with the patients and to become a role model for young patients by teaching them how vital it is to maintain their teeth for life.

“We are proud of these scholarship winners and look forward to watching them make a meaningful impact on healthcare in Oswego County,” added Wert.

Operating under the auspices of Oswego County Opportunities, Inc., (OCO), the Rural Health Network of Oswego County is a consortium of health care providers and human service providers in Oswego County.

Working together the members take a collaborative approach to addressing major health issues that exist in Oswego County.

For more information on the Rural Health Network of Oswego County, contact Wert at 315-592-0827 or visit their website at www.rhnoc.org

RHN is also on Facebook and can be found by searching ‘OCO- Rural Health Network of Oswego County.’

OCO Inc. is a private, non-profit agency that has been supporting communities throughout Oswego County since 1966.  OCO, Inc. is a United Way of Greater Oswego county Member Agency.

For more information on OCO, visit www.oco.org

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