1880-1949
Physician, Public Health Pioneer
Physician, medical pioneer, Dr. Lloyd Noland was founder and administrator
of a model industrial medical program now known as Lloyd Noland Hospital.
Noland, a native of Virginia, received his early education in that state, and
his medical schooling at the University of Maryland, receiving his MD degree
in 1903. After serving a year at the Maryland General Hospital he accepted an
appointment in The Canal Zone, Panama.
The young doctor married in 1907 Miss Margaret Gillich of New York. The Nolands
moved to Birmingham in 1913 when he resigned his post with the US government
in Panama to become the chief surgeon and superintendent of the hospital of
the employees of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. Dr. Noland founded
and developed a model health program which is recognized as one of the best
in the country.
His experience in Panama as Executive Officer and Chief Surgeon to General William
Crawford Gorgas prepared Dr. Noland in a special way for his assignment at T.C.I.
Company. In the first year he reduced the number of malaria cases from 4800
to 300. Smallpox, typhoid and enteritis were rampant. Outpatient and preventive
medicine were a part of Dr. Noland's Health Maintenance Organization (H.M.O.).
He was the first to introduce group practice of anesthesiology in Alabama. More
than 300 doctors trained by Dr. Noland have carried on the leadership, knowledge
of disease prevention and industrial medicine and the zeal and dedication of
this "miracle worker."
The experiences of Dr.Lloyd Noland during his long and varied career as superintendent
of the health department at the T.C.I. Company have been chronicled in historical
and medical records. He is applauded for his talents, his conscientious work
on behalf of others, and his devotion and dedication to his profession.
As a memorial to this selfless and amazing man, Lloyd Noland Hospital today
continues to expand and to pioneer in the development of outpatient techniques.
Dr. Lloyd Noland was inducted into the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame in 1990.