“One of the urgent needs of Scotland County is a great public hospital where its people may find the best that modern medicine and science have to offer for the treatment of disease and broken bodies.
“Agencies that minister to the health and physical well-being of men are indispensable in our day: That the people of this county should be compelled to seek such assistance away from home is no longer reasonable or justifiable,
“It is just a bit of good news that Santa Claus has up his sleeve, or on his back, a real new hospital for this community and that some morning we shall wake up and find that Laurinburg and the county are possessed of one of the finest and best hospital properties in all the land, with all modern equipment and a great surgeon in charge.
“Such an institution as that will be most welcome in our midst and its work and mission will be blessed of men in all time to come.
“Yes, there are great things ahead of us as a community and a county and the new hospital is just a sample of what is coming next year and the years to follow.
“We are waking up. Our dreams are coming true, and those who are no longer young will live to see the glad day of new things and community improvement and betterment that will make life sweeter and surer.”
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Those words were printed as part of an editorial in The Laurinburg Exchange on Nov. 12, 1925 — nearly a full 21 years before Scotland County’s dream of its own hospital would become a reality in 1946.
It certainly was a vision of what was to come, even if it took longer than was hoped for.
But since the day what is now known as Scotland Memorial Hospital was born — on Sept. 2, 1946 — those who have worked within its walls have served area residents well.
Over those 75 years, many dedicated administrators, doctors, surgeons, nurses, staff members and others tasked with keeping the hospital running and progressing have contributed to the successes of their day — as well as to the overall health of their neighbors.
Perhaps one of the biggest successes for the hospital over the past several decades has been its continued growth. For example, the number of employees in 1951 was 70 and that number grew to 550 by 1996; the number of patients admitted in 1947 were 2,757 and that number doubled to 5,498 in 1995.
And those 1990s numbers pale when compared with today’s.
It also goes without saying that our hospital has met the challenges of widespread diseases and viruses that have, at times, swept through our county. The current COVID-19 pandemic is such a case, and though employees have been stretched to the limit, we are a far better place because of the hard work from everyone associated with the hospital.
Today we take this moment to say a simple thank-you to Scotland Memorial Hospital’s past and present employees for 75 years of community service, though we know those words are hardly enough.
We also join with our predecessors of this newspaper as we look to the future for bigger and better things within our county for Scotland Memorial Hospital and the Scotland Health Care System as a whole.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Education, housing and hospitals are the most important things for society.”