Abstract:
In August 2001, the Charles A. Cannon Memorial Hospital in Linville became the first hospital in North Carolina to be recognized as a Planetree, or patient-centered care, institution. The Avery County hospital came into being in 1995 through consolidation of two historic mountain hospitals -- Sloop Memorial Hospital at Crossnore and Cannon Memorial Hospital at Banner Elk. Medical pioneers at these hospitals began the practice of patient-centered care in the early 20th-century, and 100 years later their legacy continues at the new hospital.