FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Westminster, Md. – Four area high school graduates recently received a little extra help in their pursuit of a career in health care, thanks to scholarships awarded by Carroll Hospital Center. The scholarships are for $1,000 each and this year’s recipients are: Erin Dean of Westminster, Rachel Devilbiss of Taneytown, and Tammy Jacobson and Jessica Pickard, both of Hampstead. The recipients were chosen based on excellent academic achievement, financial need, essays, letters of recommendation and their activities during high school. Each year, the hospital awards scholarships to four exemplary high school seniors within Carroll County who plan to pursue advanced education in a health care or health services-related field. "We are happy to be able to assist these deserving students in pursuing their goals of becoming health care professionals,” said Leslie Simmons, R.N., B.S.N., M.A., senior vice president of patient care services at Carroll Hospital Center. "It is an excellent way to reward hard-working high school students and, at the same time, invest in our health care future. We feel we are giving something back to the community which has supported us for so many years.” Dean is a graduate of Westminster High School and will attend St. Francis University in the fall to study nursing. She was a four-year honor student and three-year scholar athlete in track and field. Devilbiss is a graduate of Francis Scott Key High School and will attend Susquehanna University, majoring in biology. She hopes to become an orthopaedic surgeon. Devilbiss was a member of the National Honor Society and served as vice president of the Student Government Association during her senior year. She also was a two-sport athlete and an executive board member for the class of 2004. North Carroll graduates, Jacobson and Pickard, will attend Towson University to study nursing. Jacobson was a four-year honor student and received her certified nursing assistant certificate from the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, completing part of her training at Carroll Hospital Center. Pickard also was an honor student, a member of the Student Government Association and a three-sport athlete. Applications for next year's scholarships are available in all seven public high schools within Carroll County and through The Learning Center at Carroll Hospital Center. For more information, please call 410-871-6841. Founded in 1961 as Carroll County General Hospital, Carroll Hospital Center is a nonprofit, acute care facility offering a continuum of services, including comprehensive inpatient, outpatient and community programs. Photo caption: Pictured from left, Rachel Devilbiss, Tammy Jacobson, Jessica Pickard and Erin Dean. ###