Sally Ellis Fletcher came by her introduction to health care quite naturally. Her mother was a nurse. Her father was a doctor. And her paternal great-grandmother was a midwife on the plantation. Looking back, she recalls, “Health care is all I ever knew. We frequently talked about health care during dinner time.”

Her parents’ dinnertime conversation was only one of many positive influences growing up. Her family was well-known in Kansas City and particularly in the African American community. They were friends with restaurateur Ollie Gates and Yvonne S. Wilson, Missouri state senator (also an alumna of the University of Missouri-Kansas City), among others. But Fletcher didn’t “drift” to nursing because of family ties or the influence of friends. She aggressively, energetically, and single-mindedly made this career choice indisputably her own. 

Currently senior associate in the School of Nursing at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, Fletcher’s resume is so jam-packed with clinical and teaching experience, community service, honors and awards, that it’s apparent: this is a woman of tenacity, heart, character and unfathomable energy.

Just a year ago, Fletcher was recognized for one other enviable character trait and, perhaps, this is the one that underlies all the others: courage.  In 2004, the Delta Sigma Sorority honored her with their annual “Woman of Courage” award. Jacki Witt, clinical associate professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where Fletcher received her MSN and APRN, in 1989 and 1999, respectively, said, “In the time I have know her, she has been in constant motion, championing such issues as increasing the number of minorities in nursing, ethical and legal issues, and nontraditional advanced nursing practice….She exemplifies the best of professional nursing in the quest for excellence for herself, her students, her colleagues and the profession in general.”

From 2003-2005, Fletcher was an honored participant in the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Faculty Scholars Program. In 2000, she earned both the Missouri Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Education Award. She was recognized for her outstanding work at Truman Medical Center-West, Kansas City Kansas Community College and William Jewell College, as well.

A member of the Association of Black Nursing Faculty, and licensed in Kansas and Missouri, Fletcher has taught or served in a clinical capacity with Truman Medical Center, William Jewell College, North Kansas City Hospital, Avila University, UMKC, MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Physician’s Associated in Overland Park, and Truman Medical Center-West.

While studying for her master’s degree at UMKC, Fletcher was both shocked and intrigued by news and medical reports that women, increasingly stressed in their commitment to professional lives, were beginning to suffer many of the same ill health effects as men.  That’s when Fletcher decided to specialize in women’s health issues, and that has been one of the consistent themes for her throughout her career.

Other themes that dominate the story of her life and her passion for nursing and education include entrepreneurialism in the health professions, support for diversity and multiculturalism, mentoring youth and humanitarian causes. In the late 1990s, as a member of the advisory board for African American Doctors for Africa, she helped plan, implement and deliver health care for former Mayor Cleaver’s Ghana, West African Health Care and Humanitarian Mission trip.

Fletcher has never forgotten her roots – medical or cultural. She has worked energetically promoting diversity. She has served on committees promoting minority affairs and diversity for the UMKC Alumni Assn., the Shawnee Mission School District, and currently works with the Greater Rochester Diversity Council.

“Ms. Fletcher is passionate about her work and fully committed to increasing opportunities for new nurses, especially those from minority ethnic backgrounds. She truly exemplifies UMKC’s meaning of outstanding alumni,” says Lora Lacey-Haun, RN, Ph.D., dean of the UMKC School of Nursing.

Fletcher was born in Kansas City and had lived here all her life, until last year, when she moved to Rochester, NY. Her sister, Marie McCarther, is an adjunct professor and director of the Early Childhood Leadership Program at UMKC’s Bloch School of Business and Public Administration. Her brother, E. Frank Ellis, is the chairman and CEO of Swope Community Enterprises.  Fletcher has three grown children: John Paul, 29, and Sarah, 22, live in Kansas City and E. David, 26, lives in Houston.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.  UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences, and urban affairs.  This information is available to people with speech or hearing impairments by calling Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice).