By Sarah Morgan Johnson
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Professor, Co-Director of the School’s Leadership and Health Policy Initiative and Director of Health Policy Partnerships Joy Deupree, PhD, MSN, CRNP, WHNP-BC, FAAN (BSN 1994, MSN 1997), has been inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame.
Founded in 1997, the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame recognizes and celebrates exceptional health care professionals for their impactful service to the state of Alabama. This year, 13 health care leaders were inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame during a ceremony held at the Alabama Activity Center in Montgomery in August 2024.
One of only two nurses in this year’s class, Deupree was recognized for her outstanding contributions to health policy and health literacy in Alabama and nationwide. She said she is honored to be associated with so many outstanding leaders.
“To be inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame is quite humbling. I have such immense respect for the other Hall of Fame members, and I never dreamed I would fall into the category of this select group of health care leaders,” Deupree said.
Deupree has been a nurse for 29 years and a board-certified women’s health nurse practitioner for 26 years. Throughout her career, she has been engaged in health policy advocacy, research and educational efforts at the state, national and international levels for health literacy and women’s health, and she is widely recognized for her advocacy for populations that face challenges with understanding health care information. Deupree, who was on faculty in the School from 1999 until her retirement in 2019, returned full-time to the School in 2023 to co-lead the Health Policy arm of the new Leadership and Health Policy Initiative with Dean and Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair Maria R. Shirey, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FACHE, FNAP, FAAN.
Over her career, Deupree’s work in health literacy and health policy has evolved. She first became interested in literacy work through her eldest daughter, who volunteered as a reading tutor. This experience was incredibly impactful and sparked Deupree’s passion for health literacy.
Deupree said that her interest in health literacy spilled over into a love for policy work. For more than 25 years, she has worked in policy advocacy at the state and national level. In 2013, Deupree worked with the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners and the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama to lobby the Alabama Legislature to pass a bill that granted prescriptive authority for controlled substances to nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives. The passage of this bill paved the way for more nurse practitioners to practice in Alabama, especially in rural areas. Within three years, the number of nurse practitioners in collaborative agreements in Alabama grew from 2,000 to 7,000.
Looking to the future, Deupree hopes to achieve statewide funding for the Alabama Health Literacy Initiative.
“Alabama has so much potential for improvement. With funding, health care professionals who are properly trained to recognize limited health literacy can advance our health outcomes to improve the overall health of our state,” Deupree said.
