Four Receive Scholarships Honoring Long-Time Nurse Barbara Forfar Of Ocean Medical Center In Brick

The scholarship advisory committee of the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce that they have awarded nursing scholarships totaling $4,000 to four nurses on the staff at Ocean Medical Center.

Regina Foley and Rachel Hollywood, both of Point Pleasant; Tamara Brown of Lakewood, and Evelyn Ferguson of Eatontown each received $1,000 scholarships during an award ceremony held last month on the Ocean Medical Center main campus in Brick. It is the fourth time in four years that scholarships have been awarded to Ocean Medical Center team members from the scholarship fund.

Foley is the chief nurse executive and vice president of hospital operations at Ocean Medical Center and is a long-time team member of the Meridian Health System. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in nursing leadership education at Kean University with an expected completion date in August 2017. Foley began her 27-year nursing career as an operating room nurse and then operating room nurse manager for Point Pleasant and Brick hospitals while working directly alongside the late Barbara Forfar from 1989 to 1996.

Hollywood is an orthopedic clinical coordinator in the Center of Total Joint and Spine Replacement on 6 West at Ocean Medical Center and is pursuing her master’s of nursing (family health nurse practitioner) at Rutgers University with an anticipated completion date of May 2015. She is a member of the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses and co-chair of the Orthopedic Clinical Services Team at Ocean Medical Center.

Brown has been a clinical nurse educator at Ocean Medical Center since May 2013 and patrols the halls of 4 West and 4 North. She is pursuing her doctorate in nursing education at Kean University with an expected completion date in June 2017. Prior to joining the Ocean Medical Center team, Brown held various nursing functions at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune.

Ferguson is pursuing her master’s degree of nursing at Drexel University with an anticipated completion date in May 2015. She is the nurse manager of oncology services at Ocean Medical Center on 4 East, which includes inpatient and outpatient oncology as well as radiation therapy. Evelyn is also a member of several Ocean Medical Center committees including the being the chairperson of the Oncology Nursing Leadership Committee.

The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund was established in January 2011 to honor the memory of long-time Point Pleasant resident Barbara Forfar, or “Foof” as she was called by her fellow nurses and colleagues in the operating room, and her 44 years of dedication to the nursing profession with all but three years of her service associated with the Ocean Medical Center or its predecessor hospitals.

“On behalf of the entire scholarship committee, I want to congratulate these four exceptional individuals who truly have a sincere desire and compassion for the nursing profession and nursing education just like Barbara did,” said Walt Konopka, chairperson of the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund. “They each have an exceptional drive to gain as much knowledge as they can to help their staff, fellow team members and patients and have placed a priority on their own personal Nursing education to help serve all of us better.”

“For this year, the Scholarship Committee agreed that our 2014 fundraiser and the 2014 awards presentation were to be dedicated to Joseph Forfar, husband of Barbara, who left us earlier in February. If is only fitting that these four outstanding nurses receive our 2014 scholarships this year as a very special tribute to Joseph and in memory of Barbara. We wish all of them the best of success in their nursing careers,” Konopka said.

In addition to the scholarship recipients, their family members and friends, Ocean Medical Center physicians, nurses and administrative staff, other guests of note in attendance at the award presentation included Dr. Teri Wurmser, executive director of the Ann May Center for Nursing at Meridian Health; Matthew Lang, interim executive director of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation and Lisa Klein, development officer of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation.

During its four-year history, The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund has awarded $11,000 total to 18 nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center.

The scholarship fund provides monetary assistance to qualified nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center who desire to continue their formal education in nursing profession in the form of scholarships and awards one (or more) nursing scholarship during September of each year to eligible applicants.

To qualify for the scholarship, the applicant must be an employee or nursing student at Ocean Medical Center and must be enrolled in a RN program, an upper division program (RN to BSN) or advanced degree program (MSN, PhD) in nursing.

For more information about The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund, including how to make a donation to the fund, log on to the official website at www.forfarscholarship.org or connect with The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund on Facebook or Twitter.

(PHOTO: In Front: Brayden Forfar (grandson of the late Barbara Forfar). Left to Right: Dr. Teri Wurmser (Executive Director of the Ann May Center for Nursing at Meridian Health), Debbie Konopka (Scholarship Committee), Regina Foley, Walt Konopka (Chairperson of the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund), Tamara Brown, Kimberley Forfar (Scholarship Committee), Rachel Hollywood, Greg Forfar (Scholarship Committee), Evelyn Ferguson, Scott Forfar (Scholarship Committee) and Andrea McCafferty (Scholarship Committee). Courtesy Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund)