[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8726-8727]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. SUSAN STONE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
astounding achievements of a dedicated Kentuckian. Worthy of 
recognition for her contributions to the advancement of rural health 
care, Dr. Susan Stone has devoted much of her life to the practice of 
nursing and bettering the lives of women, children, and families around 
the country.
  Dr. Stone received her first degree in nursing in 1974 and her 
bachelor's of science from the State University of New York. She 
obtained her doctor of nursing from the University of Tennessee Health 
Science Center, as well as her postmasters in nurse midwifery at the 
very school she is currently president and dean of, the Frontier School 
of Midwifery and Family Nursing in Hyden, KY.
  Educated in many facets of medicine, Dr. Stone has worked as a nurse 
and a childbirth educator as well as a certified nurse midwife. Then in 
2001 she found a way to make an even greater contribution to 
Kentuckians' health, as she was named president and dean of the 
Frontier School. Following in the footsteps of the Frontier School's 
founder, Mary Breckinridge, Dr. Susan Stone continues to seek to 
improve health care in Kentucky's rural and underserved areas. 
Expanding the school over the past 5 years to over 1,000 students from 
across the world, Dr. Stone has made a major impact on its growth. 
Expected to become the No. 1 education provider of advanced practice 
nurses in the future, the Frontier School now provides master's as well 
as doctoral degrees.
  About 75 percent of students enrolled in the Frontier School are from 
rural counties, furthering Dr. Stone's vision of improving health 
education and the availability of health assistance around the State. 
And since her involvement with the school, it has recently received 
three prestigious rankings in U.S. News and World Report.
  For her incredible hard work and devotion to medicine, Dr. Susan 
Stone was named the National Rural Health Association's Distinguished 
Educator of the Year 2011. Kentucky is fortunate to have driven, 
focused women like Dr. Susan Stone, as she continues to educate and aid 
more students who will take their practice of medicine around the 
world.
  Mr. President, the Leslie County News recently published an article 
highlighting the life and achievements of Dr. Susan Stone. I ask 
unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              [From the Leslie County News, May 12, 2011]

  Frontier School's President and Dean, Dr. Susan Stone, Named NRHA's 
                   Distinguished Educator of the Year

       With great pride, the Frontier School of Midwifery and 
     Family Nursing announces that Dr. Susan Stone, the school's 
     president and dean, has been named the National Rural Health 
     Association's Distinguished Educator of the Year for 2011. 
     Dr. Stone was honored on May 5 during the 34th Annual Rural 
     Health Conference in Austin, Texas. Dr. Stone's devotion to a 
     career of advancing the education of rural health care 
     providers throughout the United States made her a deserving 
     recipient of this prestigious national award. Dr. Stone, who 
     has led Frontier as its president and dean since 2001, has 
     been instrumental in the growth and success of the Frontier 
     School, a distance-learning graduate school of nursing with a 
     historic campus in Hyden, Kentucky. Today, the school offers 
     nationally rated master's and doctoral degree programs and 
     educates nurses to become nurse-midwives, family nurse 
     practitioners and women's health care nurse practitioners. 
     Enrollment at Frontier has grown from just 200 students in 
     2006 to a current enrollment of over 1,000 students 
     representing all fifty states and many countries. Stone has 
     maintained a focus on educating nurses who will serve rural 
     and underserved populations which is evidenced by the fact 
     that 75% of students enrolled in 2010 resided in rural 
     counties and/or health professional shortage areas. Thanks to 
     Dr. Stone's commitment and leadership, Frontier graduates are 
     most certainly increasing access to quality healthcare for 
     those that need it most. The school was founded in 1939 by 
     the visionary Mary Breckinridge, who years earlier founded 
     the Frontier Nursing Service in the mountains of southeastern 
     Kentucky to provide healthcare to women, children and 
     families. Frontier is considered the birthplace of nurse-
     midwifery and family nursing in America. Dr. Stone's passion 
     for the vision of Mary Breckinridge, who with her nurses 
     traveled on horseback to deliver care and attend births in 
     Appalachia, is evidenced by the school's continued commitment 
     to educate advanced practice nurses to serve in rural and 
     underserved areas. Mary Breckinridge wanted to see her work 
     replicated

[[Page 8727]]

     throughout the nation and world, and Dr. Stone has embraced 
     that vision by educating students from all 50 states and 
     several countries, taking Frontier's philosophy of care 
     across the globe. Like Frontier's founder, Dr. Stone has 
     devoted her career to improving healthcare for women and 
     families. Dr. Stone received her first nursing degree in 
     1974, later followed by a bachelor's of science in nursing 
     from the State University of New York. Dr. Stone worked as 
     nurse, a certified childbirth educator and later as a 
     certified nurse-midwife in New York, after receiving her 
     post-master's certificate in nurse-midwifery from the 
     Frontier School in 1991. During the '90s, while still 
     practicing, she served on the distance-learning faculty of 
     the Frontier School. Dr. Stone, who earned her Doctor of 
     Nursing Practice degree from the University of Tennessee 
     Health Science Center, has been instrumental in expanding the 
     Frontier School's outreach worldwide, through a unique 
     melding of online learning and real-world clinical 
     experiences. The school recently received three high-profile 
     rankings from US News and World Report: Frontier School of 
     Midwifery and Family Nursing is ranked #13 in Nurse-Midwifery 
     programs, #14 in Nurse Practitioner education programs and 
     #50 in Nursing--among all accredited schools in the country. 
     The work and commitment of Frontier graduates toward meeting 
     rural health care needs could fill an entire book. With Dr. 
     Stone's expert guidance, determination, passion and Frontier 
     school is poised to become the No. 1 education provider of 
     advanced practice nurses to serve rural areas, both 
     domestically and internationally.

                          ____________________