Mt. Vernon, Ill.-based SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital and the Jefferson County, Ill., branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons have teamed up to provide a $2,500 scholarship to eligible participants, according to the Mt. Vernon Register-News.
Hospital officials said the scholarship will be used to promote equality for African American individuals in the community to pursue a career in a healthcare related field.
Those eligible for the scholarship must be from the JeffersonCounty area and currently enrolled in a healthcare related degree program or plan to begin their career in a healthcare related program in fall 2017, according to the article.
SSM Good Samaritan Health and the NAACP first teamed up to offer the scholarship in 2011.
"SSM Health is committed to our community and encourages individual development," said Brenda Alexander, regional vice president of human resources at SSM Health. "I am excited to provide this opportunity and look forward to January 2017 when we both celebrate the birthday of one of this country's great pioneers, Martin Luther King, and present a scholarship to an individual who models his beliefs and seeks to pursue a career in healthcare."