Dr. Theodore K. Oates Nursing Scholarship

Established for Berkeley County Grads

Members of the Berkeley County Industrial Park Development Fund recently established a scholarship at the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation to help Berkeley County high school graduates pursue a career in nursing. Named in honor of the founder of Martinsburgâ€™s City Hospital, the Dr. Theodore K. Oates Nursing Scholarship Fund will annually award one $5,000 scholarship to a student enrolled in a nursing program at Shepherd University, Blue Ridge Community & Technical College, or James Rumsey Technical Institute.
The award will be paid directly to the school in equal annual installments and the scholarship recipient need not be a recent high school graduate, but must have graduated (or earned a GED) from a Berkeley County, West Virginia high school. Additionally, individuals interested in applying for a scholarship must be planning on remaining in the area and working as a nurse upon graduation.
â€œThe Dr. Theodore K. Oates Nursing Scholarship is a fitting way to honor the founder of City Hospital,â€ stated community foundation executive director Michael Whalton. â€œWe are thrilled to be able to help future generations of nurses earn their degrees and begin their careers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.â€
March 2^nd is the deadline to submit an application for this, and any of the dozens of other community foundation scholarships. Those interested in reviewing the criteria and submitting an application, can visit the foundationâ€™s scholarship page on their website at http://ewvcf.org/Scholarships.html .
In addition to the $5,000 nursing scholarship, Eastern Panhandle students will be vying for a record $100,000 in total scholarships this year. Awards range from $500 to $5,000 each.
The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation was founded in 1995 to build local, permanent endowment to generate annual charitable grants and scholarships. EWVCF serves Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan counties, with affiliates in Hampshire and Hardy counties.
For more information about the community foundation visit their website at www.EWVCF.org or call executive director Michael Whalton at 304-264-0353, or email him at mwhalton@ewvcf.org.

Dr. T. K. Oates was born in Hampshire County, West Virginia in 1869, attended high school in Capon Bridge, and earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1896. Shortly after graduation, Dr. Oates married Altha S. Oglesbee and their only child Max Oglesbee Oates was born in 1901 in Capon Bridge where Dr. Oates had established his medical practice. The family moved to Martinsburg in 1903 and the following year Dr. Oates founded City Hospital. A School of Nursing was established in 1909 and for nearly fifty years Dr. Oates was the moving force behind City Hospital and the School of Nursing; and there are still several retired nurses who trained and graduated from City Hospital School of Nursing living in the area.