Pitt County

County History: 
Pitt
Region: 
Coastal
Quick Facts
People and Biographies
Notable individuals from nursing history.

People

  • Eugene Russell Tranbarger ( ): President of NCNA and Chair of the NC Board of Nursing.
  • Sandy Walton ( ): Walton is a clinical nurse specialist/adult psychotherapist and licensed marriage and family therapist, and is the owner of Life Quest, which provides individual, couples, and family therapy. She is a member of NC AHEC and a member of the Eastern Carolina Women's Psychotherapy Network.

Vidant Medical Center Biographical Sketches (c.2013)

  • Sue Ann Fipps of Winterville ( ): As an educational nurse specialist at Vidant Medical Center, Fipps fosters the growth and development of the Vidant Children's Hospital staff through education, orientation and evidence-based research. Fipps earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from East Carolina University and her master's degree in nursing from Walden University in Minneapolis. She joined Vidant Medical Center in 1997, serving as a staff nurse on the pediatric unit, and continues her work with outreach and community-based activities.
  • Sylvia James of Greenville( ): James currently serves as an educational nurse specialist at Vidant Children's Hospital, in addition to serving as an nursing assistant instructor at Pitt Community College. She earned her associate's degree in nursing from Pitt Community College and her bachelor's degree from Mount Olive College. James has been a nurse at Vidant Medical Center since 1985. She is a certified trainer in basic life support, pediatric advanced life support and neonatal resuscitation programs.
  • Deborah McClain of Greenville ( ): As a staff development assistant, McClain helps with ongoing education needs of nursing staff in the women's department at Vidant Medical Center. McClain joined Vidant Medical Center in 1993 as a registered nurse, working with patients and families during labor and delivery of newborns. Prior to moving to Greenville, she earned the rank of captain in the U.S. Air Force, serving in California, South Dakota and Texas. She earned her bachelor's degree in nursing at the University of Vermont. She is certified as an inpatient obstetrics nurse and in fetal monitoring and teaches fetal monitoring and neonatal resuscitation.
  • Susan Redding ( ): Redding currently coordinates the palliative care consultation services at Vidant Medical Center. She's been with the hospital for 17 years where she started as a contracted hospital employee hired to help develop an adult day health program in Greenville. She received her bachelor's degree from St. Joseph College in Emmitsburg, MD. She went on to achieve her master's in nursing from East Carolina University. Redding is a member of Sigma Theta Tau and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. She is certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
  • Chandra Speight-Rahilly ( ): Speight-Rahilly has worked at Vidant Medical Center for three years where she currently serves as a quality nurse specialist for the department of patient safety. She earned master's degrees in English and political science before completing phase one of ECU’s alternate entry Master of Science in Nursing Program. She is currently enrolled in ECU's Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Speight-Rahilly serves a senior editor of Evolving Perspectives Patient Care Journal. She was awarded a Mary Lewis Wyche Fellowship by the North Carolina Foundation for Nursing (2013), the Robin and Ray Corbett Scholarship (2013), and the Roccapriore-Tschetter Fellowship (2012). She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Golden Key National Honor Society, and Phi Kappa Phi. Speight-Rahilly is a certified medical surgical nurse and certified in advanced cardiac life support.
Special Topics
Special topics and events from the county's nursing history.
  • St. Frances Hospital for Colored People 
    • A Daily Reflector article from October 22, 1923 stated that a hospital was being run in the home of "Frances Hopkins, the colored nurse."   
    • The August 25, 1924 Daily Reflector stated that "Frances Hopkins, a graduate nurse of reliability and experience," has leased a building. "The hospital will begin operation in September the first with two graduates and a few class nurses who are making application to the training school."
    • The August 16, 1939 Daily Reflector refers to a "Negro ward" that had been built at Pitt General Hospital.
Resources
Additional resources for further research.

Health Care Institutions

Archives

  • Greenville, N.C. city directory, 1916-17 [document] has records of nurses registered in the city. Available through ECU Digital Collections.
  • The cover photograph of the Feb 1940 Health Bulletin is a picture of staff and patients at the Greenville, NC Maternity and Infancy Center.

Newspaper Clippings

Compiled by: 
Phoebe Pollitt