|
The Lister Hill Society, the Annual Fund of the University of Alabama College
of Community Health Sciences (CCHS), is dedicated to the support and advancement
of medical education, healthcare services, and research, with particular emphasis
on primary care and rural healthcare.
The Society is named for one of Alabama's most distinguished public servants,
a lifelong advocate of innovative public-health programs in the state and nation. Lister
Hill was first elected to the United States Congress at the age of 29, and he
remained there for almost 50 years, first in the House of Representatives, then
for 30 years in the Senate. He was the son of a distinguished physician
in Montgomery, Alabama, who had studied under Sir Joseph Lister in London.
Senator Hill was a graduate of this university and its law school. Perhaps
because of his father's influence, his most memorable achievements in Congress
were in healthcare legislation. He recognized the dire shortage of hospitals
throughout the country, particularly in rural areas. The passage of the
Hill-Burton Act in 1946 led to the construction of 9,200 new hospitals, nursing
homes, clinics, and public-health facilities throughout the country. Alabama
participated fully with the Act and over the next two decades, 65 of Alabama's
67 counties had constructed "Hill-Burton" hospitals.
Senator Hill's contributions to the nation's health are manifold. He
was a major advocate in the Senate in establishing the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) -- the preeminent medical research organization in the world. A
wing of the Nation Library of Medicine on the NIH campus is named for him, as
is the Lister Hill Library of the University of Alabama School of Medicine in
Birmingham.
The Lister Hill Society (LHS) is governed by a board,
the majority of whom are community leaders in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding
area. The dean and two senior faculty members appointed by the dean serve
as ex-officio members, and the board elects its own chairperson. Expenditures
of LHS funds are made by the board, subject to the approval of the dean.
* The Lister Hill Society hosts an annual reception for the faculty, staff,
alumni and friends of the College.
|
