T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA President of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine James Nemitz, left, and The Health Plan President and CEO Jeff Knight announce the inclusion of WVSOM in The Health Plan Scholarship Program.

WHEELING — The Health Plan and West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine announced the school’s inclusion in The Health Plan Scholarship Program on Friday.

Since its creation in 2009, the scholarship program has provided over $43 million in scholarships to more than 50 medical and nursing students to practice in the state of West Virginia.

“We started this program approximately 15 years ago. We recognized that there was a shortage of primary care physicians in the area, and we wanted to come up with a way to help. This was a great opportunity for us to provide some education and money for students who are less fortunate,” The Health Plan President and CEO Jeff Knight said.

Established in 1979, The Health Plan is a nonprofit health maintenance organization with the mission to manage and improve the health and well-being of its members.

“So as a nonprofit organization, this is one of our ways of giving back and giving to the less fortunate,” he added. “The health care staffing shortage continues to be a significant issue in West Virginia. The Health Plan is committed to supporting our state’s health care workforce, and we’re thrilled to team up with West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine to offer our scholarship program to its students.”

James Nemitz, president of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, said the program will benefit his students.

“We have entered into an agreement to enable my osteopathic medical students to participate in the scholarship plan. If they are awarded this scholarship, then their tuition is taken care of — it’s a tremendous savings for my students,” Nemitz said.

With this new partnership, students of West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine were able to apply in the final months of the 2024-25 scholarship cycle and will be eligible for the entire 2025-26 time period. The scholarship will pay for a student’s tuition and fees at the school’s in-state rate and can be renewed for up to four years. Even though the application process has been freshly opened, Nemitz said he already has had 11 students apply for the scholarship program.

“What this scholarship program does is for every year that they receive the scholarship, they then serve in the area that The Health Plan exists,” Nemitz added. “It certainly keeps people in West Virginia and the region, and that’s what we want to do is retain our physicians here in the state.”

He expressed his excitement about the program and believes that his students are equally as excited about it.

Don Smith, The Health Plan director of communications, noted that the program works with multiple colleges and universities across the Mountain State.

“The Health Plan is a leader in this area with this program working with Marshall, WVU and now the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine,” Smith said.