Florence Smith Scholarship
Dr. Hollandsworth Proves You Can Go Home Again
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Treating fish hook injuries is something Tom Hollandsworth, M.D., takes in stride at his medical practice in an area where people love being on the water. So are the diabetes and hypertension he sees daily working in a rural region that enjoys traditional southern foods. Hollandsworth’s patients include newborns as well as 100-year-old grandparents living on the Eastern Shore of Virginia between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. On a typical day the medical director of the Onley Community Health Center treats nearly 25 patients from Northampton and Accomack counties. The center is operated by the nonprofit Eastern Shore Rural Health System. While growing up, Hollandsworth was a patient in the same health system where he now works to keep people healthy. Hollandsworth, an Eastern Shore native, earned a degree
from The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and always vowed to return to live and work on the shore. He studied medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk with four years of scholarship help from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s Florence L. Smith Medical Scholarship Fund. “The scholarship made a big
difference for me,” Hollandsworth recalls. “The fact that it was renewable really made it special. I was going into family medicine and knew I would never have the compensation of a sub- specialist.” After residency in Michigan,
Hollandsworth joined the rural health system and quickly earned a reputation for excellence and kindness. “Tom goes to great lengths to determine the cause of problems,” says long-time patient, retiree George McMath of Onley. “He always has the time to listen.” In 2009 Hollandsworth won the Virginia Community
Florence Smith’s legacy of
helping students become physicians continues today.
Healthcare Association Provider of the Year award. His co-workers who nominated him described his “thirst for knowledge” and ability to diagnose rare conditions that save patients’ lives. Hollandsworth was honored for his efforts to help patients stop smoking, lose weight and make other lifestyle changes to improve their health. An innovator, he was among the first Eastern Shore physicians to use electronic medical records. The center Hollandsworth leads is the health system’s largest. Its staff of 49 works in a clinic opened in 2010 with help from $135,000 in grants from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and its affiliate, the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation. “I like that I serve the entire
Tom Hollandsworth, M.D., treats patients in the same practice he visited as a boy on the Eastern Shore.
Since 1952 the Florence L. Smith Medical Scholarship has provided more than $2.5 million to help educate more than 750 physicians. This year there are 18 Smith Scholars on scholarship.
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community,” Hollandsworth says. “Everyone comes here – from the poor and uninsured to the wealthiest residents.”
Photo by Glen McClure
IMPACT
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