The following press release was sent from the Audrain County Health Department.
The Audrain County Health Department (ACHD) has established a new $2,500 scholarship opportunity for nursing students from Audrain County in remembrance of Kay Dubbert, a long-term retired employee who passed away in 2024.
Dubbert was a 38-year employee of the Audrain County Health Department as a registered nurse and was instrumental in the establishment of numerous public health programs for residents of Audrain County.
Some of those programs included the Home Health & Hospice program and the Women, Infant and Children’s program.
“Kay was a person who definitely left her mark on those who work at the health department still,” said ACHD Administrator and CEO Craig Brace.
“You can hear it when you hear them not only talk amongst themselves about how to run a program but, also, in how they talk with our clients.
The kind, compassionate, caring way they address the problems being faced by our clients … you can definitely hear Dubbert’s influence still today.”
Dubbert is remembered by employees still at the health department as someone that looked out after the nurses in her charge.
“Kay was just wonderful with her employees,” remembers Clinical Services Manager Becky Wieberg.
“She knew what to say and when to let an employee know they are seen, heard and respected but, she also knew how to teach them the human side of nursing, which she believed went hand-in-hand with the science side of nursing.
She thought you couldn’t be an effective nurse without having both those understandings.”
Dubbert retired in 2014 and, shortly before she passed away in 2024, she was given the Audrain County Health Department William “Bill” Johnson Public Health Advocate Award by the health department.
“Kay was an easy choice for this award as she exemplified public health in so many ways in Audrain County,” Brace said.
The new scholarship opportunity will be given to a current or enrolling nursing student in a Registered Nurse or a Bachelor of Science Nursing program at an accredited college or university.
Applicants can apply by completing an essay describing their intent and desire to pursue a degree in nursing.
Submissions are due by March 15th and one winner will be selected each year.
Applications are available to be picked up at the Audrain County Health Department at 1130 S. Elmwood Drive or by emailing info@myachd.org.