From Regional Recognition to Statewide Award: Western Colorado University Faculty Member Wins Colorado’s Highest Honor for Nurses

Dr. Mary Sawyer, the first faculty member hired by Western Colorado University’s new nursing program, has won the statewide Excellence in Nursing Award from the Colorado Nurses Foundation, which is Colorado’s highest honor in nursing.

Earlier this year, Sawyer was recognized as the 2026 Western Colorado Nursing Luminary before advancing to the statewide competition in the Clinical Advanced Practice RN category.

Nearly 400 nurses from six regions across Colorado were nominated across 16 award categories this year. Dr. Sawyer was nominated by both Western and Gunnison Valley Health, where she works as a Nurse Practitioner.

The Excellence in Nursing Award, which was known as the Nightingale Award until 2025, is now in its 41st year and recognizes nurses who demonstrate excellence in advocacy, innovation, leadership, and patient care across Colorado.

“Mary brings a rare combination of clinical experience, leadership, and real compassion to everything she does,” said Elizabeth Roten, Director of Nursing at Western, who won the Colorado Nightingale Award for Leadership in Innovation in 2017. “She has helped shape this program from the ground up while continuing to serve patients in the Gunnison Valley. This award reflects the impact she has already had on healthcare and nursing education in rural Colorado.”

Since she was hired by Western in 2025, Dr. Sawyer has played a central role in developing Western’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Accelerated BSN programs, which are welcoming their inaugural classes in the fall of 2026.

As the program’s first full-time faculty member, she helped design a curriculum focused on the healthcare needs of rural communities and led the development of Western’s $500,000 state-of-the-art simulation lab, where students gain critical experience to prepare for real-world clinical environments.

Before joining Western, Dr. Sawyer spent years practicing in urgent care, emergency, ambulatory, and high-altitude clinical settings, often serving communities with limited access to healthcare.

She also helped develop and lead Gunnison Valley Health’s Urgent Care clinic, where patient volume and capacity doubled during the facility’s first year while services expanded to include on-site X-ray and registered nursing staff.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work in communities where access to healthcare can’t be taken for granted. Nursing in rural areas requires adaptability, teamwork, and a willingness to work wherever we’re needed,” Dr. Sawyer said. “That’s the mindset we’re trying to build into this program and into the next generation of nurses.”

Dr. Sawyer’s experience in rural and remote medicine has played an important role in the development of Western’s nursing program and its partnership with Gunnison Valley Health, which is partnering to prepare practice-ready nurses trained locally to serve rural communities like Gunnison.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Sawyer has focused her career on mentoring nursing students and strengthening relationships between the University and healthcare providers throughout the Gunnison Valley.

“This award means a lot to me because it reflects the importance of rural healthcare and the work being done in communities like Gunnison,” Dr. Sawyer said. “I hope it also shines a light on what we’re building at Western and the opportunity we have to prepare nurses who will go on to make a real difference in rural communities.”