Victoria Joyce Ely

Victoria Joyce Ely (September 12, 1889 – May 12, 1979) was an American nurse who served in World War I in the Army Nurse Corps and then provided nursing services in the Florida Panhandle in affiliation with the American Red Cross. To address the high infant and maternal death rates in Florida in the 1920s, she lectured and worked at the state health office. Due to her work, training improved for birth attendants and death rates dropped. After 15 years in the state's service, she opened a rural health clinic in Ruskin, Florida, providing both basic nursing services and midwife care. The facility was renamed the Joyce Ely Health Center in her honor in 1954. In 1983, she was inducted into Florida Public Health Association's Hall of Memory and in 2002 was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame.

Early life and education Victoria Joyce Ely was born on September 12, 1889, in Flora, Illinois, the eldest child of Cora Lydia (née Hoff) and Harry S. Ely. She graduated from the Carrollton, Illinois, high school and then went to work as a stenographer and bookkeeper. In 1911, she began nursing studies in St. Louis, Missouri, at St. Luke's Hospital School for Nurses. Ely earned her nursing diploma in 1915. and joined the American Red Cross.

In 1923, Ely was assigned to the Florida Panhandle to provide nursing services in Perry, Florida,