Features of the Month

FREE New Exhibit — Healing the Children: The North Carolina Orthopedic Hospital Exhibit

Running until March 6, 2010, Healing the Children: The North Carolina Orthopedic Hospital Exhibit is open at the Gaston County Museum. This free unique exhibit will feature oral histories from the patients and staff, photographs, and artifacts relating to NCOH.

In 1909, a local businessman, Robert B. Babington, became interested in creating a school for handicapped children. After becoming aware of the many surgical procedures available to help these children, he decided instead to start an effort to build the first state supported orthopedic hospital in North Carolina. His dream was to give free health care to those who could not afford it. After twelve years of lobbying individual legislators and making appeals to the state, the North Carolina Orthopedic Hospital (NCOH) was officially opened on July 1, 1921.

The only requirements for admission were: 1) to be a white child of sound mind under 15 years of age, 2) be a resident of North Carolina, and 3) be without means to pay for the medical treatment needed. Later these requirements were amended to include children of other races and raise the age limit to 16.

The North Carolina Orthopedic Hospital treated a wide range of diseases and conditions - from birth defects to polio to burns. NCOH was one of the leading orthopedic hospitals in the country and developed procedures still being used by doctors today. The hospital was also a major teaching institution for resident physicians and nurses. The hospital closed in 1979, but the building still remains on New Hope Road in Gastonia.