ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke is remembering the Burrell Memorial Hospital, a health care center founded during segregation.
The Burrell Memorial Hospital was founded by five Black physicians in Roanoke, Virginia in 1915, and named for Dr. Isaac Burrell. Dr. Burrell was one of the founders’ colleagues, and he died after being forced to leave the city for emergency surgery because, at the time, local hospitals would not treat Black patients. Burrell Memorial Hospital became the regional center of medical care and training for Black communities across western Virginia.
“It’s a tragic story to think that here is a physician who couldn’t get the care that he needed in his own community simply by the color of his skin,” said Former Roanoke Mayor and Local Historian Nelson Harris…