The O'Berry Neuro-Medical Center is a
public hospital in
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro, originally Goldsborough, is a city and the county seat of Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 33,657 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropol ...
owned by the
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Its original goal was to help the
intellectually disabled achieve independence by teaching them self-help skills and productive vocations. It has recently expanded its focus to include those who are either elderly or medically fragile along with having an intellectual disability.
The facility now serves a 23-county South Central Region and handles 430 clients. It is one of three Neuro-Medical Treatment Centers in North Carolina, the others being Longleaf (formerly Wilson) and Black Mountain. O'Berry's director since 2011 has been Dr. Michael Bunch.
[NCDHHS website and O'Berry letterhead]
History
The facility traces its origins to a commission created in 1943 by Governor
Joseph Broughton
Joseph Melville Broughton Jr. (November 17, 1888March 6, 1949) was an American politician who served as the 60th governor of North Carolina from 1941 to 1945. He later briefly served as a United States Senator from January 3, 1949 until his dea ...
to study the "condition, care, treatment and training" of black mentally retarded citizens at Goldsboro State Hospital (now
Cherry Hospital). The facility opened in November 1957 with 150 black mentally retarded clients. It desegregated in 1966.
Notes
Sources
Official webpage at North Carolina Division of Mental Health*
Hospital buildings completed in 1957
Hospitals in North Carolina
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Buildings and structures in Wayne County, North Carolina
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