Butler County Community College nursing students Hostensia Fotoh, of Butler, left, and Connor Francis, of Meridian, are among the Butler County Health Care Consortium’s health care students of the year and will be recognized at an event Wednesday, Feb. 22, at The Atrium in Prospect. Fotoh and Francis are shown in January near the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building, which is under construction on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Submitted photo

For the fourth time in five years, a consortium promoting the industry that employs the most workers in Butler County will honor students excelling in Butler County Community College’s most-popular career program.

The Butler County Health Care Consortium will recognize Hostensia Fotoh and Connor Francis, enrolled in BC3’s nursing, R.N. program, during its health care worker recognition event at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at The Atrium in Prospect.

Fotoh, Francis and Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School’s Kayla Brooks and Rebeccah Rodgers will be lauded as health care students of the year. Nineteen Butler County health care workers also will be recognized at the event. Nick Neupauer, president of BC3, is scheduled as the guest speaker.

Fotoh and Francis exhibit student-learning outcomes that the school expects, said Dr. Patty Annear, dean of BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.

As of the start of the 2022-23 academic year, nursing, R.N. was BC3’s most-popular career program with an enrollment of 230 students, according to Sharla Anke, the college’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.

As of January, health care and social assistance organizations employed 13,856 workers in Butler County, more than any other industry, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry’s Center for Workforce Information & Analysis.