This is Arkansas’s public health story, celebrating 100 years of service. I’m Dr. Paul Halverson.
In the early 1900s, Tuberculosis was the second-leading cause of death in Arkansas, killing some 3,000 people each year and infecting up to 80 percent of the population. The treatment for TB at the time was rest and quarantine.
Act 378 of 1909 created the Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium near Booneville. However, treatment was segregated. It wasn’t until 1930 that African-Americans had a place be treated. The McRae Memorial Sanatorium near Alexander eventually could care for up to 200 patients.
Meanwhile, the original Arkansas Sanatorium grew to be the largest in the country, with over 1,000 patients and over almost 8,000 acres.
Public health efforts over the last century have added an average of 25 years to the life of each American.
This chapter in Arkansas’s public health story is brought to you by KUAR and your Health Department.