Howard L. Bost’s life-long mission was the provision of health care to the Commonwealth and the nation. He earned a Ph.D. in medical economics from the University of Michigan, the first such degree awarded in the nation. Dr. Bost not only played an active role in the creation and development of the University of Kentucky’s Chandler Medical Center, in 1960 he also worked on the Kentucky Governor’s Commission that drafted legislation that developed a program for medical assistance for the poor. His leadership in this role earned him the appointment of Executive Director of the Committee on Health Care of the Aged under Senator Jacob Javits, which ultimately resulted, in the passage of Medicare legislation, a program that provides universal medical benefits to the aged in the United States. Dr. Bost then served as the first Deputy Director of the Bureau of Health Services in the Social Security Administration under President John F. Kennedy. When he returned to Kentucky, Dr. Bost continued to advocate for health care for the Commonwealth and the nation through a variety of activities, including building UK’s employee retirement program and spearheading the creation of Appalachian Regional Hospitals, serving Central Appalachia. Upon his retirement from UK in 1982, his family established the Howard L. Bost Health Services Management Award for the outstanding graduating HSM student.
The story of Mary Breckinridge is well known in the annals of health care, not just in Kentucky and the United States, but throughout the world. In 1925 she founded the Kentucky Committee for Mothers and Babies in Leslie County, Kentucky, and in 1928, the name was changed to the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), a project through which she introduced the first trained nurse-midwives to the United States. She was familiar with eastern Kentucky since she had family that resided there and her great- great grandfather, John Breckinridge, served as a U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Riding horses up mountains, through fog, flood, or snow, the FNS nurses brought modern healthcare to one of the poorest and most inaccessible areas in the U.S. Ms. Breckinridge demonstrated that care provided by nurse-midwives, acting as nurses to the total family, would drastically cut infant and maternal mortality and also morbidity and mortality for the entire community. The legacy of this remarkable woman lives on through provision of clinical services through FNS operated clinical facilities, as well as educational programming by the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing. FNS celebrated 75 years of service in the year 2000.
Viola Davis Brown, through determination and resolution, made a significant impact on the health of Kentuckians. Mrs. Brown broke the color barrier in nursing education, becoming the first African American to attend a nursing school in Lexington. Upon graduation from the nursing program at St. Joseph Hospital in 1959, she continued with the hospital, shortly being appointed Supervisor of Nursing. In 1972, Ms. Brown was among the first graduates of the Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program, a pilot program developed by the University of Kentucky, College of Medicine and the Hunter Foundation for Health Care. In 1980, she was appointed by Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown, Jr., as Executive Director of the Office of Public Health Nursing, the first African American nurse to head a state office of public health nursing in the United States. Later, she became Principal Assistant to the Kentucky Commissioner of Health, Chief Nurse Representative to all branches of state government, local health departments, health professions and the community, at large. Governor Wallace Wilkinson, in 1988 appointed her Project Coordinator of the Governor’s Interdisciplinary Task force on Nursing Shortages. While she was in the position of Principal Assistant, the number of public health nurses in Kentucky grew from 350 to 1400. Her tenure in the position of Principal Assistant to the Commissioner extended through the administration of five governors and three State Commissioners.
After earning his medical degree, Dr. Chambers served as Fayette County Health Officer. He joined the UK faculty in 1928 as the first Director of the Department of Hygiene and Public Health and as head of the University Health Service where he used population-based data to identify major health problems associated with hygiene and outlined methods to address those problems. In 1930 he obtained funds to offer a certificate series in public health for health officers, nurses, and sanitarians. Chambers was a proliferate author. Topics among his many manuscripts included the public health and medical needs of the population, insufficient health personnel to meet these needs, and the articulation of medicine and public health. He also published a book, The Conquest of Cholera. Throughout his career at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Chambers advocated and lobbied for the creation of a medical center and a school of public health, among other health professional programs at the University of Kentucky. Had he been successful in his efforts on behalf of a school of public health, UK would have had one of the earliest schools of public health in the nation. In the opinion of many, the Chandler Medical Center resides in Lexington because of the extraordinary efforts of John Sharpe Chambers.
After completing his medical degree at the University of Louisville, School of Medicine, his residency training and a stint with the U.S. Air Force, Dr. William McBeath returned to Kentucky in 1961 as a field officer with the Heart Disease Control Program of the US Public Health Service. He also became the first resident in the Department of Community Medicine at UK and later joined the department as faculty. As Director of the Division of Medical Care for the Department of Health, Dr. McBeath was at the forefront of implementing landmark federal legislation such as Medicare and Medicaid. His office also began the new federal-state Medicaid program in Kentucky, known as the Kentucky Medical Assistance Program, which purchased medical care for welfare recipients. In 1973, Dr. McBeath left Kentucky to become Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, a position he held until his retirement in 1993. In recognition of his 20 years of service to APHA and in appreciation for his selfless commitment to public health, he was awarded the Sedgewick Memorial Medal, the organization’s most prestigious honor. His commitment to equity and fairness in APHA and in his personal life is best described in a special note from the organization’s parting tribute, “APHA’s early recognition of the importance of diversity as a matter of justice and as a source of vitality for the Association is a tribute to Bill McBeath’s principles and his genius in implementing them.”
Dr. Joseph Nathaniel McCormack was born in Nelson County in 1847. A graduate of Miami Medical College, Dr. McCormack might be referred to as the father of Public Health in Kentucky. He was appointed to the State Board of Health in 1879.He was elected as the first secretary of the Board in 1883, an office he held for over 30 continuous years.
Dr. McCormack was elected President of the Kentucky Medical Association in 1883, and maintained the offices of both the Board of Health, and KMA from his home in Bowling Green.
In 1883, he was elected Secretary of the National Conference of State Boards of Health, and became its president the following year. He was also an active member of the American Public Health Association. Along with his son, Dr. A. T. McCormack, he wrote virtually all of the Kentucky health statutes. The current Kentucky Department of Public Health is based upon the essential fundamentals envisioned by Dr. McCormack: sanitation, birth and death monitoring, laboratory, and public health nursing.
Upon his retirement as President of the Board of Health, his son, Dr. Arthur T. McCormack, succeeded him and he remained as a Director of the Board and its Bureau of Sanitation. He subsequently served on the Rockefeller Foundation Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease. In 1903, Dr. McCormack noted, “If we doctors threw all our medicines into the sea, it would be that much better for our patients, and that much worse for the fishes.” Upon his death, the Kentucky Medical Association recognized him for his role as State Health Officer for “enactment of sanitary laws and cooperation of the intelligent laity in their enforcement.”
For more than four decades, the founder of Rudd Equipment Company, Mason C. Rudd, used his considerable energy, talent and resources to promote the health of the people of the Commonwealth. In 1971, he became Chair of the Louisville Metro Board of Health, and his tenure in the position can be characterized as exceptional, both for his length of service and for his commitment to the cause of public health. Mr. Rudd played a pivotal role in the creation of many nationally recognized public health and health care initiatives, such as the Childhood Lead Poisoning Program, the AIDS Prevention Program and a national bioterrorism training center at the University of Louisville. Mr. Rudd also has been a tireless advocate for the environmental aspect of public health. During his tenure, regulations were developed governing the maintenance and operation of private wastewater treatment plants, ands septic tanks were banned in certain areas of Jefferson County. Mr. Rudd also championed accessibility to quality health care for all the people of Metro Louisville, particularly underserved populations. He was very active in the planning and construction of the University of Louisville Hospital and served as Chair of the University Hospital Board. In 1996, Jewish Hospital named its new 14 story Heart Lung Center for Mason C. Rudd. Mr. Rudd’s lifelong advocacy for the health and well-being of the people of Kentucky has demonstrated what a generous benefactor he is, not just to medicine and to medical research, but to individuals in hardship and populations in need.
Born in Owensboro, KY, Dr. Clay E. Simpson, Jr., Ph.D., M.S.P.H., dedicated his professional career to improving the health of America’s disadvantaged populations. In 1959 Dr. Simpson earned a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Kentucky, the forerunner to the Master of Public Health that is offered in the College of Public Health today. Throughout his career, Dr. Simpson managed and helped create programs of vital importance to the development of health care practitioners from disadvantaged backgrounds and programs that gave access to underserved, usually minority populations. One such program, the Health Careers Opportunity Program, provides academic enrichment services to over 10,000 students annually in more than 200 projects throughout the United States. In July, 1995, Dr. Simpson was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and served in this position until his retirement on January 30, 1999.He also directed the HHS Office of Minority Health. This federal office is ultimately responsible for promoting programs that have the potential to improve the health status of minority populations in the United States. Dr. Simpson was the recipient of two Surgeon General’s Medallions and the Superior Service Award, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Public Health Service.
