7/26/07
Future doctor plans to call Clarendon home
By Cathy Gilbert

LARRY HEWETT/Manning Times

Clarendon Memorial Hospital CEO Ed Fry presents Victoria Ridgeway with a scholarship to assist her in medical school. In exchange, she will come back to Clarendon County to practice upon completion of her training.

Like father, like daughter.

Victoria Ridgeway, daughter of Dr. Bobby and Deborah Ridgeway, will start medical school this fall and plans to return home to Clarendon County and Clarendon Memorial Hospital, much like her father did nearly twenty years ago.

And she’s getting financial support from Clarendon Health System to help make it possible ... a $10,000 per year scholarship for medical school in return for one year of service for each year the scholarship is given. The hope is that she will commit at least four years of service in Clarendon County.

Ridgeway has grown up in the Clarendon Memorial family, having worked as a volunteer, summer intern and now an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) at Clarendon EMS.

“Recruiting doctors to come to small, rural counties like ours is a challenge for us,” said Edward R. Frye, chief executive officer of Clarendon Health System. “Most doctors choose larger areas because they will have a bigger pool of doctors in which to share patient loads and call schedules.”

Clarendon Health System offers other scholarships in numerous healthcare disciplines in return for guarantees of service. $2,000 per year scholarships for two years are available for careers in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and pharmacy.

Clarendon Health System scholarship recipients who are unable to fulfill their commitments will be required to repay their loans.

“We are doing everything we can to assist those who aspire to work in healthcare to live and work in our community,” said Gail Duke, director of human resources for Clarendon Health System.

“Since I was a freshman in college, I knew I would likely follow in my father’s footsteps and become a doctor,” said Victoria. “The really hard work begins this fall when I attend Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Atlanta, but I’m looking forward to getting started.”

“I appreciate Clarendon Health System helping me financially, but more importantly, I look forward to coming back home,” she concluded.

For more information about available scholarships from Clarendon Health System, e-mail Duke at gduke@clarendonhealth.com.