FNU Prepares to Re-Launch Courier Program

of Annual Giving and Courier Programs

Lisa Colletti-Jones. “We look forward to working with students from across the country and hope they gain insight into the challenges facing our rural and underserved communities. The Courier Program is one of Frontier Nursing University’s finest traditions, and I’m so glad we can share it with Woodford County and the surrounding areas.”

Frontier Nursing University began accepting applications for the resumption of its Courier Program this January. The Courier Program is an eight-week rural and public health summer service-learning program for college students with an interest in public health, healthcare, or a related field. Eight students will be accepted into the program, which will run from May 31 to July 28.

This marks a resumption of FNU’s Courier Program, which has been suspended for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the university’s move to its Versailles campus in Woodford County, Kentucky. FNU’s Courier Program was launched in 1928 in Frontier’s original home in Hyden, Kentucky. Since then, more than 1,600 students have participated in this unique service-learning program.

“We are proud and excited to relaunch the Courier Program,” said FNU Director

The Couriers will live in the newly renovated Courier House located on the FNU campus. Couriers will be immersed in service learning throughout Woodford County and surrounding communities. They will begin with a two-day orientation which will introduce them to the university and to the role they will play as Couriers in the community. The students will participate in online modules guided by a faculty advisor to learn about the importance of rural and public healthcare. They will also observe at local clinic host sites where they will apply what they have learned in real-life situations in the community. As they gain experience, the students will proceed to participate with a host site in creating a project designed to help the underserved community in which they are working. The Couriers’ service-learning experience will include a presentation on a health assessment they have conducted through their observations in the clinical sites, and they will work with their host organization to create a service project for that site and the people it serves.

For more information about FNU’s Courier summer service-learning program, please contact Lisa Colletti-Jones, Director of Annual Giving and Courier Programs, at lisa.collettijones@frontier.edu or 859.251.4728.

Lindsay Adams Joins Los Angeles Midwives

Beebe Healthcare Welcomes Sarah Brissey

Reba Harward Joins St. Joseph’s Hospital of Buckhannon

Los Angeles Midwives (from left): Naomi Drucker, Lilit Baldjyan Sarkissian, and Lindsay Adams (Photo

Lindsay Adams, CNM (Class 179), RN, MSN, recently joined Los Angeles Midwives as a certified nurse-midwife. Fellow FNU alumni Naomi Drucker, CNM (Bridge 138) RN, MSN, and Lilit Baldjyan Sarkissian, CNM (Class 143), RN, MSN, own and operate Los Angeles Midwives, which opened on December 16, 2020.

Dalisa Barquero and Amber Shapton Published in Women’s Healthcare

Sarah Brissey, CNM (Class 170), MSN, recently joined Beebe Healthcare’s Women’s Health Rehoboth in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware as a certified nurse-midwife. Brissey provides comprehensive obstetrical care, including prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum services. Additionally, she sees patients in need of routine gynecologic care, covering annual GYN visits, preventive screenings, and contraceptive guidance.

Whitney Clark Joins Grand Lake Health System

Grand Lake Health System in St. Mary’s, Ohio, recently welcome Whitney Clark, CNM (Class 151), MSN. Clark worked as a registered nurse in labor and delivery prior to becoming a nursemidwife.

Community Physician Group Welcomes Wendy Flansburg

St. Joseph’s Hospital of Buckhannon in Buckhannon, West Virginia, recently welcomed Reba Harward, CNM (Class 196), MSN, to its Center for Women’s Health team. Her scope of practice includes caring for women throughout their pregnancies and across their lifetimes.

Ebony Hollins Joins Choptank Community Health System

Choptank Community Health System’s Chestertown Health Center in Chestertown, Maryland, recently welcomed Family Nurse Practitioner Ebony Hollins, FNP (Bridge 162), MSN, CRNP, AAHIVS. Hollins specializes in chronic illness prevention and management and providing care to HIV and HCV patients. She also has experience in primary care, infectious disease, medication-assisted treatment services, and outpatient substance abuse care.

Dalisa Barquero Amber Shapton

Dalisa Barquero, DNP (Class 19), and Amber S. Shapton, DNP (Class 26), FNP-C, are the co-authors of “Management of headache in pregnancy and during lactation,” published in Women’s Healthcare, a clinical journal for nurse practitioners in February 2023. Dr. Shapton is the medical director at Lincoln Avenue Medical-Dental Center at Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Yakima, Washington. Dr. Barquero is a women’s health nurse practitioner and clinical lead at Mountain Park Health Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Wendy Flansburg, PMHNP-BC (Class 198), recently joined the Community Physician Group in Missoula, Montana, as a psychiatricmental health nurse practitioner. She specializes in psychopharmacology medication management, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders.

Chelsea Lundgren Joins Penn Highlands Healthcare

Penn Highlands Healthcare in DuBois, Pennsylvania, recently welcomed Chelsea Lundgren, FNP (Class 205), MSN. She is a nurse practitioner at Penn Highlands Endocrinology.

Andrea Phillips Opens Spectrum Reproductive Health and Gender Affirming Care

Spectrum Reproductive Health and Gender

Affirming Care was recently opened by Andrea Phillips, ARNP, CNM (Class 158) in Bellingham, Washington. “You deserve to leave healthcare visits feeling educated and empowered,” Phillips states on Spectrum’s website. “I practice sex and body positivity and gender-affirming care with an awareness of power dynamics and how they shape care while using trauma-informed practices for every patient.”

Meggan Smith Named Interim Health Director

Meggan Smith, FNP-C (Class 169), MSN, has been appointed as the interim health director by the Graham County, North Carolina, commissioners. Smith is a nurse practitioner at Smoky Mountain Urgent Care in Bryson City, North Carolina. She provides urgent care for acute illness and injury, as well as primary care for members and visitors of the community.

CHI Health St. Francis

Welcomes Brandi Stein as Community’s First NurseMidwife

CHI Health Clinic

Women’s Health in Grand Island, Nebraska, recently welcomed certified nurse-midwife

Brandi Stein, CNM (Class 91), APRN, MSN. Stein is the first nurse-midwife on the medical staff at the Maternity Center at CHI Health St. Francis and in the Grand Island community. Stein provides a full range of primary health care services for women throughout their lifespans, including gynecologic care, family planning, preconception care, prenatal and postpartum care, childbirth, and care of the newborn.

Bronson Healthcare Names Ruth Tatara

Compassionate Advanced Practice Professional of the Year

In December, Bronson Healthcare, which serves southwest Michigan and northern Indiana, honored four of its providers as Compassionate Physicians and Compassionate Advanced Practice Professional of the Year awards. Ruth Tatar, CNM (Class 112), MSN, was named the Advanced Practice Professional of the Year. Tatar is a certified nurse-midwife at Bronson Obstetrics, Gynecology & Midwifery Specialists in Kalamazoo. She also volunteers within the Kalamazoo Public Schools and hosts various blanket-making events for hospitalized children.

The Frontier Nursing University Office of Alumni Relations is here to support YOU! Our purpose is to offer helpful programs and services that support our graduates. Alumni are an integral part of FNU’s development because you demonstrate the excellence of FNU in everyday practice. You are also our primary recruiters and most loyal donors. We deeply appreciate your commitment to FNU.

We are looking to spotlight FNU community members in our blog! Tell us your story by scanning the QR code and filling out the form or email stories@frontier.edu. Then, someone will contact you soon. These spotlight stories help us shine a light on all of the amazing accomplishments and the impact our community members have on their home communities and the University community.

The Alumni Association is open to all graduates of FNU. We currently have more than 8,000 alumni in all 50 states and many countries around the world. We encourage you to explore the services, programs, and activities offered and become involved. There are several ways to stay in touch with friends and connect to FNU including conference receptions; case days; e-newsletters; and the FNU Alumni Facebook Group. To take advantage of all member services, please make sure we have your most recent contact information. Email us at alumniservices@ frontier.edu.