At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, Couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) alumni Charles R. Davis, FNP has spent countless hours within the last few years to advocate for the health of underserved students in rural New York. Davis, who earned his Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from FNU in 2019 in the family nurse practitioner program, spearheaded the idea and led a committed and diverse team of individuals that established the newly-constructed Webutuck School-Based Health Center in Amenia, New York. In partnership with the Webutuck School District, the health center will be operated by Open Door Family Medical Centers of Ossining, NY. The Webutuck Central Schools District is located in the rural farming community of Northeast, Dutchess County, near the borders of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
In 2019, Davis presented an evidence-based proposal to the superintendent of the Webutuck Central School District concerning the need for and value of a school-based health center for students. He saw the need as over 60% of the population in his community meet the metric of being categorized as economically disadvantaged.
After Davis received approval from the district’s superintendent and other leaders, including the Board of Education he secured the collaboration of Open Door Family Medical Centers to be the facility’s healthcare partner. Open Door Family Medical Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) facility. Davis then solicited and received over $150,000 in grant funding from the Foundation for Community Health in Sharon, Connecticut, and the State of New York State and secured architectural support and contractors to design and construct the facility according to the guidelines set by New York State’s Department of Education and Department of Health.
The school-based health center held it’s grand opening on May 14 with a ribbon cutting and an opportunity for the community to check out its newest healthcare resource.
The center will help families with health insurance enrollment, charge no copays, and cover the costs for the uninsured. Students who visit the center will be able to return to class immediately after their visit.
The health center removes barriers many rural students face in regards to healthcare, including accessibility to a healthcare provider, transportation, the ability for a parent/guardian to take time off from work, access to health insurance, financial obstacles in regards to covering co-payments and the loss of classroom time that results in a healthcare visit. It will be the first School-Based Health Center in the Mid-Hudson Valley Region of New York.
“Where better to pursue an MSN-FNP than Frontier Nursing University, with its significant ethos and storied history of care, including training and educating individuals to provide healthcare to the underserved?”
– Charles R. Davis, FNP
Davis will serve as a family nurse practitioner (FNP) at Webutuck School-Based Health Center.
“I chose to become a family nurse practitioner as a way to give back to communities and individuals less fortunate than me,” he said.
With early ambitions to become an FNP, Davis said he was inspired to attend FNU after learning about the school’s history as an undergraduate nursing student.
“Where better to pursue an MSN-FNP than Frontier Nursing University, with its significant ethos and storied history of care, including training and educating individuals to provide healthcare to the underserved?” Davis said.
Since graduating, Davis said he has continued to receive mentorship from the Frontier community, citing Dr. Jodie Kaufman, Dr. Joanne Keefe, Dr. Heidi Froemke and Dr. Lisa Chappell as examples of outstanding mentors.
“My Frontier network has been a source of enormous support and encouragement for my work and mission in bringing a much needed School-Based Health Clinic to my district,” Davis said.
Department Chair for the Department of Family Nursing Dr. Lisa Chappell expressed her admiration and pride for the work Davis is doing.
“Charles was an exceptional student who was a true visionary. He has always been highly motivated to live out FNU’s mission of serving all individuals, especially those in diverse, rural, and underserved communities,” Dr. Chappell said. “We are very proud of him for working hard to make his dreams and vision a reality.”
In his free time, Davis enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, exercising, bird-watching, and spending time with his pitbull.
Thank you, Charles, for your unrelenting commitment to underserved patients in your community.
Learn more about FNU’s top-ranked FNP program and what makes it stand out!
View images of the Webutuck School-Based Health Center below:
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).
You must be logged in to post a comment.