SMH to celebrate National Doctor’s Day with hamburger cookout on Friday
Stephens Memorial Hospital will host a hamburger cookout in honor of National Doctor’s Day on Friday, March 30, to thank local physicians for their contributions to the community.
The event, which will be free and open to the public, will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will take place at the Breckenridge Medical Center, 101 S. Hartford.
National Doctor’s Day has been observed for more than 80 years, but it was officially recognized by the U.S. government in 1990. According to the Southern Medical Association, the first Doctors’ Day observance was held on March 30, 1933, by the Barrow County Medical Auxiliary, in Winder, Georgia. The idea was conceived by Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond. That date was selected because it was the anniversary of the first administration of anesthesia for surgery by Dr. Crawford W. Long on March 30, 1842.
The observance quickly spread from Winder to the entire state of Georgia and was nationally recognized by the SMA Alliance at its 29th annual meeting in 1935.
In 1990, legislation was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate by Congressmen Mike Parker and G. V. Montgomery and Senator Thad Cochran, all from Mississippi, to establish a national Doctors’ Day, according to the SMA website. Following approval by Congress, on October 30, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed S.J. RES. #366 (which became Public Law 101-473) designating March 30 as “National Doctors’ Day.”
A few years ago, the organization Physicians Working Together worked to expand the honor for doctors to an entire week, establishing National Physicians Week, which is being observed March 25-31 this year.
Cutline, top photo: Ronnie Cooper, assistant director of plant operations at Stephens Memorial Hospital, and Pete Cooper, with maintenance and plant operations, grill hamburgers for the Hospital Week celebration last May. This Friday, March 30, SMH will host a hamburger cookout at the Breckenridge Medical Center for National Doctor’s Day. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
