History with ‘Hud’: Marking 95 years of Southport’s Dosher Memorial Hospital
SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — We’re approaching 95 years since a very important hospital popped up in a then-rural area of the Cape Fear.
In the early 1900s, Brunswick County was served by just two physicians who provided care for the 15,000 people of the county – Dr. William Goley of Shallotte and Dr. James Arthur Dosher of Southport. They each often traveled up to 200 miles a week by horse and buggy to treat patients.
Born in Southport in 1878, Dr. Dosher graduated from the Maryland College of Pharmacy in 1900, serving in France during World War One to treat soldiers for the effect of mustard gas.
Once her returned to Southport, Dosher was known for practicing medicine in the streets or going as far as performing surgeries on his own kitchen table.
But all that began to change towards the end of the 1920s.
After initially being met with objections, a $15,000 grant was given for the construction of a hospital in Brunswick County by the later part of the decade. But that only covered around half of the total building cost.
For the remaining amount, Dosher and a fellow doctor took fundraising efforts to the streets, soliciting a $7,500 bond referendum from the City of Southport and a $7,500 tax levy from Brunswick County Commissioners. The building opened as Brunswick County Hospital to the public on June 2, 1930, with just seven people on the staff, including Dosher.
Dr. Dosher would be involved in the early years of the hospital right up until his death on January 10, 1939 at the age of 60 from complications related to pulmonary tuberculosis he acquired two years prior.
The hospital was renamed after Dosher that same year in memory of his contributions.
During World War Two, despite struggling somewhat financially, the hospital’s doors remained open thanks to government contracts to serve military personnel stationed at Fort Caswell. This allowed them to continue to serve the community.
In the decades since the population of Brunswick County has soared to more than 143,000 people, with other hospital options popping up in the area. But Dosher Memorial Hospital and its now hundreds of staff and volunteers continue to make a difference very single day for anyone who comes through the doors in need of care.
Meteorologist Matthew Huddleston (‘Hud’) has always had two major loves – weather and history. While you can watch him talk about weather each morning on WWAY, he looks forward to bringing you a little piece of history each Thursday on WWAY’s website.
To read other History with ‘Hud’ segments, click HERE.
