ROCHELLE – The Rochelle Community Hospital Auxiliary and RCH Foundation added two new scholarships to their list of scholarships given out to students annually.  
For more than 50 years, the Rochelle Community Hospital has offered scholarships annually to area students planning to pursue careers in the healthcare field. The scholarships are given out to Rochelle Township High School seniors or graduates, Ashton-Franklin Center or Oregon High School students, a RCH employee or a child of an RCH employee.
The only additional requirement is that the recipient must live in or within 15 miles of Rochelle.  Each year, the hospital gives out between five and seven scholarships. With the addition of the two new scholarships, the hospital and the foundation are offering a total of seven this year.

“This year, there are two new scholarships being presented,” said Michelle LaPage, foundation and community events manager. “One in memory of Judith Stavrakas, a past auxiliary president, and the second is a health informatics scholarship in memory of Chris Powell, a former RCH information systems employee.”
Judith “Judy” Stavrakas served as the auxiliary president from 1976-78 and then again from 1987-88. She also served as the chairwoman of the Illinois Hospital Association Council of Volunteers in 1985.
Chris Powell was a RCH Information Services technician from 2011-15. Health informatics is the practice of acquiring, studying and managing health data and applying medical concepts in conjunction with health information technology systems to help clinicians provide better health care.
Each of the scholarships offered through the hospital and the foundation is worth $1,000 and can be used toward any type of healthcare education. Scholarship applications can be found on the hospital’s Facebook page or on its website at www.rochellehospital.com/pressreleases/. Applications must be returned to LaPage at the hospital by Friday, March 6.