RMHF Announces Scholarship Winners

The Roosevelt Memorial Healthcare Foundation Scholarship Committee has awarded two local students with $500 scholarships to be used toward continuing their education in healthcare.

This year’s recipients were Colter Romo, a senior at Culbertson School, and Amy Petersen, a Roosevelt Medical Center employee furthering her education in social work.

Romo plans to attend Montana State University - Bozeman, where he will pursue a pre-medicine degree in biochemistry. He attributes his passion for becoming a rural physician to his grandmother, who worked in healthcare as a nurse for many years.

“With my medical degree, I want to work in hospitals in my home area of eastern Montana and provide quality care to the same community that has helped me to grow to my full potential,” he added.

During high school, Romo completed five college classes through MSU-Billings and will be entering his freshman year at MSU-Bozeman as a transfer student. Throughout high school he was active in golf and basketball and served as president of the National Honor Society. He was also on the Honor Roll every trimester and participated in Academic Olympian and Science Olympiad.

Petersen has been attending Walden University for the past year and is pursuing a master’s degree in advanced social work.

“Mental health is an issue not many people want to talk about, but it’s a real thing. People in this community have few resources for counseling or mental health services. This area is my home and I want to make a difference in it by offering mental health services to those in need,” Petersen said.

Petersen has worked at RMC for the past three years as the social services director and as the quality improvement director. She also participates in many of the facilities committees, including falls prevention, quality improvement, orientation and HIPAA compliance.

Each year, the foundation board and its selection committee provide these opportunities to ease the high costs of attending college and reward students dedicated to their studies. Since the beginning of the scholarship program, a total of $10,000 has been awarded to local students who are Bainville, Froid and Culbertson High School graduates, or graduating seniors. Preference is given to those students seeking a healthcare related profession.