Tarheel Health

Midway through World War II, North Carolinians got some embarrassing news: nearly half the men called to the state draft boards for induction were being turned down as 4-Fs. It was the poorest record in the country. Aroused Tarheels organized a North Carolina Good Health Association, gave themselves a thorough examination and discovered they were in worse shape than they had imagined. Almost one-third of North Carolina's 100 counties were without hospitals, the state stood eighth highest in maternal death rate, tenth in infant mortality, third from the bottom in number of doctors per capita. North Carolina medical schools were turning out only 35 doctors a year for in-state practice.

The association launched a long-range program to get North Carolina back on its feet. They brought Carolina-born Bandleader Kay Kyser home from Hollywood to help them "sell good health as you sell a candy bar." They peddled the unpalatable truth in the press, on the radio and in public meetings.

Last week, at the dedication of a 411-bed teaching hospital at the University of North Carolina, the association could look back on some impressive achievements. Now, alongside the new hospital. North Carolina's two-year medical school has been expanded into a full, four-year institution. There is also a new school of dentistry, a school of nursing, and the hospital is building a 75-bed psychiatric wing. The state, the Federal Government and local communities have cooperated in the building of 71 general hospitals, 35 health centers and 33 nursing homes. At the state capital in Raleigh last week, the North Carolina House of Representatives approved a loan fund of $50,000 a year for medical students and nurses willing to take extra work in psychiatry. The rest of the bargain: borrowers will repay their loans by serving in North Carolina mental hospitals.

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