Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
The State of North Carolina officially recognized Greensboro’s historic L. Richardson Memorial Hospital, the last racially segregated hospital to close in the state. Located at the convergence of S. Benbow and McConnell Roads, the highly visible marker designating the hospital’s presence declares:
“Opened in 1927 to serve Black patients during Jim Crow era. Housed nursing school. 1929-1954. Operated here until it relocated in 1966.”
At an unveiling ceremony and luncheon in the Barber Park Event Center, former physicians, nurses, and patients applauded loudly as the prominent marker was unveiled. In a program preceding the marker’s unveiling, several former hospital physicians, nurses and administrators emotionally reminisced about the hospital’s vital impact in the community, providing healthcare to African Americans denied medical attention at White only hospitals, most notably Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital.
Speaking to more than 125 people, Dr. Alvin C. Powell, a Greensboro nephrologist and organizer of the N.C. Highway Marker Equity Initiative, Inc., explained how he led efforts to recognize the hospital’s historic significance. “L. Richardson Memorial Hospital emerged in the 1920s when a group of concerned citizens formed the Greensboro Negro Hospital Association, which eventually was the name of the hospital opened in 1927.”
Powell, who currently serves as the chief medical officer at Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, added that the hospital’s name was subsequently changed to L. Richardson Memorial Hospital in honor of a generous benefactor, Lunsford Richardson, a Greensboro resident and inventor of Vick’s VapoRub.
Family physicians Dr. Wayland McKenzie and Dr. Wilson Elkins spoke about the camaraderie they enjoyed during their time as physicians treating patients at L. Richardson’s location on South Side Blvd. in Greensboro, a location which opened its doors on May 21, 1966. Today, it is called Kindred Hospital.
The bonds and friendships that formed at L. Richardson have stood the test of time. Elkins said, “I’m indebted to the good things L. Richardson has done.” As a young boy in the 1960s, Elkins delivered eggs to the hospital, and as a medical student at Bowman Gray (in Winston-Salem) in 1968, he wrote a paper on L. Richardson Hospital. “By the 1980s, Wayland McKenzie took call for me,” said Elkins.
For former L. Richardson hospital administrator Everard Rutledge, the dedication of a historical marker for the hospital represented an alpha and omega moment. “It was a key part of my professional career, and my first daughter was born at L. Richardson,” said Rutledge. “I have worked at nine medical institutions and run systems as large as 1,300 beds, but when we talk about this place, it is not normal. It is the people that made this place. I take my hat off to all those who weathered the storm and to all those who came through those doors.”
Greensboro’s first Black pulmonologist, Dr. George Kilpatrick, recalled how his Meharry Medical College (Nashville, Tenn.) classmate, the late Dr. Percy Jones, actively recruited him to come to Greensboro to practice medicine at L. Richardson Hospital.
“Dr. Percy Jones is really smiling at us,” Kilpatrick said, “He was the grit that kept L. Richardson going. Percy told me,’ George, we need someone who can set up and operate the respiratory machines and ventilators.’ So, I came to Greensboro.”
Jones was Chief of Pathology at both L. Richardson Memorial and Kindred Hospitals for more than 30 years. He served as chairperson of the board of L. Richardson Hospital from 1988 to 1991. He was also president of the medical staff at L. Richardson Hospital from 1977 to 1988.
Retired nurse Linda Speaks spoke fondly about her time at L. Richardson, stating, “Our patients were always our first priority.”
For the physicians, nurses and staff who helped L. Richardson Hospital be an important lifeline for southeast Greensboro residents, a state historical marker commemorates that success. Kilpatrick noted, “It is also important to recognize that we still want quality healthcare in Southeast Greensboro.”
Today’s ongoing healthcare partnerships include Cone Health, North Carolina A&T State University’s pending Physician Assistant program, and Winston-Salem State’s Nurse Practitioner program. Buildings are currently in the works and under construction to house new healthcare facilities along the Benbow corridor between Gate City Boulevard and East Market Streets.
To learn more or to participate in the N.C. Highway Marker Equity Initiative, Inc., contact Dr. Alvin Powell at: P.O. Box 38183; Greensboro, N.C. 27438.
