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Three eastern Kentucky students receive 2018 St. Claire Foundation scholarships

Three eastern Kentucky students with aspirations of working in healthcare are the recipients of scholarships from the St. Claire Foundation.

Hannah Skaggs of Salyersville has earned the $750 Sister Mary Jeannette Wess Scholarship. Skaggs is a junior at the University of Pikeville and a pitcher on the U-Pike softball team. She has a perfect 4.0 grade point average and plans to attend medical school.

“In my life, my calling is helping people,” she said. “I think the best way I could help is to become a doctor. My profession could serve others in Appalachia because I plan to stay in the region.”

Skaggs eventually would like to join Doctors Without Borders in order to reach people around the world who are in desperate need.

Established in 1995, the Sister Mary Jeannette Wess, SND, Health Education Fund is named in honor of St. Claire HealthCare’s third President/CEO. Students from the SCH service region who are entering at least their junior year of college may apply for this scholarship.

Baylee Akers of Salt Lick and Makayla Reynolds of Morehead received the $1,000 Richard J. Bausch Family Scholarship. Both have aspirations to work in the behavioral health field.

Akers was the 2018 Bath County High School valedictorian and is beginning her college career at Morehead State University this fall. She said her family has been impacted greatly by drug addiction, and her career goal is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner who works with substance abuse victims.

“I hope to reach out to those who have lost their way to substance abuse and help pull them out of this path of self-destruction,” she said. “My goal is to help them become the parent that they need to be, the citizen and productive member of society they have the potential to be.”

Reynolds is beginning her freshman year at MSU this fall through the Rowan County Early College Academy. She has been a St. Claire HealthCare volunteer for two years and is striving to become a mental health counselor.

“In Appalachia, there are not enough mental health professionals or facilities to serve all the people that desperately need counseling and medication management,” she said. “My long-term goal is to open a practice in Rowan County.”

Reynolds started clogging when she was 5 years old and has been active in the Rowan County Schools band program since middle school.

“My experiences in the arts can help me be creative with my methods of counseling,” she said.

The Richard J. Bausch Family Scholarship is funded by an endowment established in memory of the father of recently retired St. Claire HealthCare Vice President Greg Bausch, PharmD. To qualify for the scholarship, an applicant must be a pre-professional health sciences student and a resident of an Appalachian county.

(provided by St. Claire Healthcare)

Paul Hitchcock earned his Masters in Communications from Morehead State University and Bachelors in Radio-TV/Psychology from Georgetown College. A veteran broadcaster for more than 40 years and an avid fan of blues, jazz and American roots music. Hitchcock has been with WMKY since 1986 and was named General Manager in 2003. He currently hosts "Muddy Bottom Blues" (Fri., 8pm-9pm), "Nothin' But The Blues" (Sat., 8pm-12am), "Sunday Night Jazz Showcase" and "Live From The Jazz Lounge" (Sun., 8pm-9pm) and "The Golden Age of Radio" (Sun., 2pm-3pm). He also serves as producer for "A Time For Tales" and "The Reader's Notebook."
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