One of the first changes that came about, group practice had already
started before I got into medicine. As a child growing up, all the
doctors in Edenton were solo. We didn't even have a hospital until about
'46, when they started at the base. This is the fiftieth year for Chowan
Hospital, so they must have opened in '47. I've seen Chowan County
become a leader in health care. When I started off, physicians were
solo. In the late '40s, we had a Marine air base here. When it closed
down after the war, some of the physicians and community leaders
approached the Navy to allow them to utilize the infirmary. So they had
a hospital at the base.
We didn't have a hospital locally. If you got sick and had to go to the
hospital, you went to Elizabeth City, and if you were really sick, you
went to Norfolk. They got together in the early '50s and built Chowan
Hospital, a 35-bed hospital. Some of the physicians organized themselves
into a group at the Chowan Medical Center, maybe five or six, in the
early '50s. When I came to practice in '65, it was well organized, and
they had their building. There were about two physicians in solo
practice. Chowan Hospital in 1970 expanded to a 60-bed facility. The
hospital over the years has continued to upgrade. They built a 40-bed
unit for extended care, which brought it up to about 100 beds. They've
added on a 20-bed psych unit, and renovated the emergency room, and now
we're building an ambulatory care center. So one of the things I've seen
over the years is that both the in-patient and out-patient facilities of
the hospital have continued to progress, even though the size of the
town is about the same. Edenton's slogan is that it's both historic and
progressive, and that's been true in health care.
From the physicians standpoint, we've grown in numbers. Now we have an
OB/GYN center with four physicians. Before reached the stage it's at
now, a physician pulled out from Chowan Medical Center, and started this
OB center, and then we had a doctor come in and start an opthamology
center. We've had surgeons come inߞthere was only one when I came here,
and now we have three general surgeons and an opthamologist. Just as the
hospital has grown, the physicians have multiplied and brought in more
specialties. When I came, we had only one specialist, a surgeon, and a
radiologist who came once a week. Since 1982, we've had a hospital-based
radiologist. So there's been an upgrade, healthwise. Along with this,
the nurses have become better trained. Now we have a lady administrator,
which is a new change. The hospital has gotten into the business of
recruiting physicians, which was totally unheard of. As the trends have
changed across the nation, it may not have been as fast in Chowan
County, but it's been replicated here to a degree. The hospital has
affiliated with other places like Pitt, so physicians will come in to
hold cardiology clinics, GI and pulmonology. Many of the specialties
represented at Greenville [where the Eastern Carolina University School
of Medicine is located] also come up here to Chowan County to give their
services. We have our own CAT scan, which was a big thing when it first
started in a place like Edenton.