Maybe you knew Loretta C. Ford as a pioneer who launched the nurse practitioner (NP) movement. Maybe you’ve heard she was the American nurse who co-founded the first NP program at the University of Colorado in 1965 with pediatrician Henry Silver. No matter how you may have run across her name, Dr. Ford – – who recently died at age 104 – was a true living legend.

A New York City native, Ford first studied nursing at Middlesex General Hospital and joined the Air Force when the U.S. entered World War II. Post-war, she returned to civilian life and became director of nursing for the Boulder City-County Health Department. It was during her time in Colorado that Ford famously co-founded the NP role with Dr. Henry Silver, MD, in 1965, with the goal of introducing a new role in health care to improve patients’ access to care. In 1967, the program was introduced in a Pediatrics journal article as, “a new educational and training program in pediatrics for professional nurses which has been developed to provide increased health care for children in both rural and urban areas.”

In 1971, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and in 1972 became the founding dean of the nursing school at the University of Rochester, where she developed the unification model of nursing, designed to include education, research, and clinical practice in the training of nurses.

Today, there are more than 385,000 NPs in the U.S., and the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) role is recognized in 70 countries. In 2023, the NP role was ranked the top Best Health Care Jobs and was ranked second in the list of 100 Best Jobs. 

In recognition of her many contributions, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) put together a video tribute to Dr. Ford; it’s worth every moment of its 10-minute run, and we hope you’ll pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy your time with one of the medical profession’s most inspiring members!