Western’s Dr. Mary Sawyer Named Finalist for Colorado’s Highest Honor in Nursing

Long before she was named as a finalist for Colorado’s highest nursing honor earlier this spring, Dr. Mary Sawyer was looking after people in places with few, if any, other healthcare providers.

On one assignment, she served as the sole medical provider on a remote island in the Bering Strait somewhere between Anchorage and Russia, caring for a community of 40 full-time residents.

In addition to working in remote communities in Alaska and Montana and on medical mission trips to Mexico and Thailand, Dr. Sawyer did some of her most consequential work in Colorado, helping to develop and lead Gunnison Valley Health’s urgent care facility. In its first year, the clinic doubled both patient volume and capacity, adding X-ray capabilities and registered nurses to better serve the community.

So when Western began developing its own Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program early in 2024, focused on the needs of rural communities, she was a natural choice to serve as the program’s inaugural faculty member, contributing to curriculum design and leading construction of the University’s state-of-the-art, $500,000 simulation lab.

That ability and experience working in rural and remote communities in Alaska and Montana is part of why Dr. Sawyer was named a 2026 Colorado Nursing Luminary for Western Colorado and a finalist for the state-wide Excellence in Nursing Award from the Colorado Nurses Foundation, formerly known as the Nightingale Award.

“I was quite honored to be nominated,” said Dr. Sawyer, who was recognized in the Clinical Advanced Practice RN category. “I feel very privileged to be included with so many other amazing nurses.”

Dr. Sawyer always knew she wanted to serve others, and in her first year of college considered joining the Peace Corps. But it was her mother’s struggle with cancer that ultimately put her on the path to nursing.

As a working mother, she became a dually certified nurse practitioner in acute and family care while her children were still in diapers and went on to earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Since then, she’s practiced in urgent care, emergency, ambulatory, and high-altitude clinical environments, often serving as the primary provider in GVH’s Urgent Care, the Mountain Clinic, or in Western’s clinic, as well as a primary care provider in family medicine.

“As an advanced practice provider, specifically a nurse practitioner, I function similarly to a physician with regard to diagnosing, treating, and managing illness and injury,” she said. “I collectively work as a member of an interdisciplinary team including techs, medical assistants, nurses, and physicians. The Gunnison Valley provides the perfect place for my focus on rural, high-altitude, and frontier communities.”

Dr. Sawyer’s experience and philosophy are embedded in the foundation of Western’s BSN program, and in its partnership with Gunnison Valley Health, which aims to create “practice-ready” nurses trained locally to serve in rural communities. The program is expected to welcome its first cohort of students in fall 2026, with interviews for the inaugural class already underway.

Beyond clinical care and curriculum design, Dr. Sawyer’s work has focused on strengthening the broader nursing ecosystem, recruiting students, and helping build a professional nursing community that extends from the classroom to the clinic.

On May 16, she’ll attend the Excellence in Nursing Awards gala at the Denver Art Museum in a bid for the state’s highest honor in nursing.

“I have approached my role in the WCU BSN program with vigor, curiosity, and commitment,” she said. “I love this valley, I love nursing, I love education, and I am so excited to be a part of this incredible opportunity.”