#Health February 19

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Last week I had an interesting conversation with a friend about his HEALTH and the COVID vaccine. It seems that his home county (in NC) still does not have adequate number of vaccine shots available for everyone 65 and older. He made an appointment and drove to the Robeson County NC HEALTH Department to get his shot.

Because vaccine supply is currently limited, doses are being allocated and administered via a phased distribution plan that prioritizes high-risk and critical populations. That means counties like Robeson (NC) have a high percentage of doses compared to others. My friend also mentioned that they gave him a much better customer service experience than his home county. It made me happy that rural HEALTH doesn’t have to equate to rude HEALTH care. In fact I believe it just the opposite because of leadership.

When we discussed his desire to protect his HEALTH in Robeson County I mentioned to him an interesting fact about its history. Robeson County established the first rural HEALTH department in the United States back in 1912.

I know this fact because at the end of Elm Street in Lumberton NC, on the Plaza is a North Carolina Historical Marker claiming that fact.

North Carolina was at the forefront nationally in establishing county health departments. According to a national survey of such organizations, the first four were set up in Jefferson County, Kentucky (1908); Guilford County, North Carolina (1911); Yakima County, Washington (1911) and Robeson County, North Carolina (1912). The first three counties all had cities of over 2,500 in 1910, thus qualifying them as urban by 1910 Bureau of the Census standards. Robeson County, with Lumberton (1910 pop., 2,230) being its largest town, was defined as rural. The Robeson County Health Department was originally located in the basement of the courthouse and has since moved several times.

Robeson County HEALTH Department first director was Dr. B.W. Page. Today it is Bill Smith who has led the department since 1988.

Sometimes we forget that living in rural counties not only has a rich history but has occasional HEALTH benefits.