When ECU Health was created in 2022, its brand represented a promise to bridge world-class clinical care and academic excellence in service to the vision of building the national model for rural health care. That moment marked the beginning of a new chapter not only in our organization’s history, but in the trajectory of rural health care and education in North Carolina.
Fast forward to today, the third Thursday of November – otherwise known as National Rural Health Day – and we are celebrating unprecedented investment in the future of rural health care by breaking ground on the Brody School of Medicine’s Center for Medical Education Building, a state-of-the-art seven-story, 195,000 square foot facility that will modernize the environment in which we train and prepare the next generation of physicians serving our largely rural state upon its opening in 2027.
The Center for Medical Education Building will usher in a new era for the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University and ECU Health. The construction of this building, connected to the existing Brody School of Medicine Medical Sciences Building, will support enrollment growth from 86 to more than 120 medical students in each class, all of whom will receive high-quality medical education in a rural environment where their learned skills are most needed.
Today, National Rural Health Day, is a day to recognize the team members at ECU Health and the Brody School of Medicine; because, ultimately, the historic investment in the Center for Medical Education Building is a testament to the value rural health care and medical education has on the future of North Carolina’s overall well-being.
This moment was made possible thanks to our state, university and health leaders, all of whom recognized that our value is best personified by the 14,000-plus team members who each play an important role in our rural academic health care mission. Whether in the exam room, classroom, conference room or out in the community, ECU Health and Brody School of Medicine team members work tirelessly in service to rural citizens deserving of a healthier tomorrow. To them, we all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude.
As I close this message, I want to reflect on my first National Rural Health Day message, which was penned in 2022 at the very beginning of our journey as ECU Health. In it, I said, “No one knows what the future may hold, but here in eastern North Carolina, I know that we will solve the challenges we face and we will ultimately realize our vision to become a national model for rural health care.”
This National Rural Health Day, I’m proud to say we’ve taken our next big step forward in realizing that vision on behalf of the state, and we have the shovels to prove it.
Mike Waldrum, MD, MSc, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, ECU Health
Dean, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University