Description and Context
With passage of the Hospital Survey and Construction Act of 1946, the North Carolina General Assembly was charged to establish a state agency to survey the state to determine the need for hospital beds in rural and urban areas, and to allocate federal and state funds for hospital construction. William Rich, director of Lincoln Hospital of Durham (pictured 3rd from L in back row) was the only African American to join the original group of commissioners on the North Carolina Medical Care Commission (NCMCC). Original members of the NCMCC from left to right are: (seated) Dr. John a. Ferrell, James H. Clark, Dr. George L. Carrington, Dr. Ellen B. Winston; (standing front row) Dr. Walter Jackson, Flora Wakefield, Dr. William Coppridge, E.C. Daniel, Dr. Paul F. Whitaker; (standing, back row): Dr. W. Raney Stanford, Claude F. Gaddy, William Rich, Dr. John Hamilton, Dr. Harry Johnson, Sample Forbus, Dr. J. Street Brewer.