Jay C. Ellis Memorial Scholarship

The Virginia/DC Chapter has established an annual memorial scholarship fund in memory of Jay C. Ellis, a former member of the Chapter. Jay Ellis was involved in the healthcare industry for 11 years and served in various positions throughout his career. His most recent position, until his untimely death in May, 1986, was Senior Manager in healthcare consulting at Peat Marwick. Prior to joining Peat Marwick, Jay was the founder and president of Ellis, Graham and Mears, Inc. a regional healthcare consulting firm, based in Richmond, Virginia, a healthcare consultant for Ernst & Whinney and a controller for Hospital Corporation of America.

Throughout Jay’s healthcare career, he was involved in the Virginia/DC Chapter and served on various committees. Jay was a professional and dedicated individual who was well liked by all as he took a personal interest in the people he came into contact with. He strongly believed in providing high quality services and treating all clients and individuals with dignity and respect.

The establishment of the Jay C. Ellis Memorial Scholarship Fund is the Virginia/DC Chapter’s way of helping to make Jay’s most important dream become a reality. At the age of 17, Jay was forced to get a job in order to support himself while finishing high school due to his parents’ deaths. He then supported himself through college and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from the University of South Florida, As we all are aware, it is difficult enough to obtain a collage education with the emotional and financial support of family members, but even though Jay had neither, he overcame his obstacles, pursued his educational goals and began a career in the healthcare industry. Because of his own personal struggles, Jay always hoped to provide assistance to needy students pursuing higher education.

A committee of HFMA members, who were personal and professional friends of Jay, have established the criteria to be used in awarding the scholarship based upon how they felt Jay would have liked for the scholarship to be awarded. The criteria are as follows:

1. Any high school senior is eligible to apply for the scholarship.
2. Preference will be given to offspring of members of the Virginia/DC Chapter.
3. Students applying for the scholarship will be required to write an essay entitled “What This Scholarship Means to Me” and the committee established by the Chapter will review the essays.
4. The scholarship is to be used for tuition only.
5. The scholarship is to be awarded upon financial need, academics, extracurricular activities at school and in the community, and the results of the essay composition noted above,

It is the Virginia/DC Chapter’s goal to provide a minimum of one (1) $1000 scholarship each year and we need your help in achieving this goal and in helping to make Jay’s dream come true. The  scholarship will be awarded using funds generated from accumulated interest and the principal will remain intact.