Kacey Swisher is the recipient of the 2022 Carolyn M. Butterfield Trust Nursing Scholarship awarded by the Taylorville Memorial Foundation. Swisher was awarded $1,000.

Swisher is an honors student at Illinois College majoring in nursing. This is the second consecutive year that Swisher has been awarded the scholarship.

Swisher earned her CNA certification while she was a senior at Pana High School. She gained on-the-job experience as a CNA at Heritage Health in Pana. More recently, she completed a clinical rotation on the medical-surgical unit at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital.

Swisher aspires to a career as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse. She is the daughter of Bryan and Jennifer Swisher of Tower Hill.

As a charter member of the St. Vincent Memorial Hospital Foundation, Carolyn Butterfield understood the importance of a rural hospital, said Raedena Ryan, executive director of the Taylorville Memorial Foundation. Through her trust, Butterfield provided an endowment funding annual scholarships. It was her wish to financially assist Christian County students who pursue a career in health care, especially in the field of nursing.

“Her hope was to help reverse the shortage of these professionals in our service area,” Ryan said.

Organized in 1995, the foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports Taylorville Memorial Hospital’s mission to improve lives and build stronger communities through better health.