Nantucket Cottage Hospital is inviting Nantucket residents to submit applications for its 2017 Beinecke Scholarship Fund. This special fund, created by the late Nantucket businessman and civic leader Walter Beinecke, Jr., is intended to further the education and training of island residents in medical and health care fields by helping to finance their studies. The scholarship fund is open to graduates of Nantucket High School, employees of Nantucket Cottage Hospital and any other island resident who can satisfy the guidelines and requirements.

The Beinecke Scholarship Fund focuses on six areas of health care study and training. Nursing is the fund’s first priority, followed by radiology and imaging services, laboratory services, pharmaceutical fields, physician and physician assistant studies, as well as physical therapy training. Last year Nantucket Cottage Hospital awarded Beinecke scholarships totaling $41,700 to 47 individuals.

Beinecke, the man who founded Sherburne Associates and is credited with transforming Nantucket into a modern destination resort, was a life member of Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s Board of Trustees. The Beinecke Scholarship Fund’s origins date back to the early 1950s when his father, Walter Beinecke, Sr., made annual gifts through the hospital to Nantucket High School graduates to help them pay for nursing school. After his father’s death in 1958, Walter Beinecke, Jr. formally established the scholarship fund in his memory. Over the years, Nantucket Cottage Hospital has used the scholarship fund to assist several hundred island students further their education.

The eligibility of applicants is verified by an independent ad hoc committee consisting of NCH and community leaders. No consideration is given to applicants whose desired course of study is outside of the realm of health care or medicine.

Applications are available for download by clicking here, and must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, May 1, 2017. For more information and questions, please call Lina Gillies at 508-825-8200.