Who Was Jim Bernstein?

Jim Bernstein dedicated his life to improving access to care for North Carolinians. We have sought to honor his memory by creating a Jim Bernstein Health Policy Scholars Program designed to inspire top-tier Duke undergraduates to carry on the critical work of ensuring that every North Carolinian has access to adequate health care.

Jim Bernstein (1942-2005) was the founding director of the North Carolina
Office of Research, Demonstrations, and Rural Health Development, a former assistant secretary with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and a national leader in the improvement of rural health care.

Bernstein retired from state government in 2004 after working 31 years to improve health care in rural North Carolina. He launched the nation's first state-level office of rural health, devoting himself to attracting doctors, nurses and clinics to isolated communities that needed them.

Today, the impact of Bernstein's work is plain: 83 clinics launched with Bernstein's help continue to operate independently across the state.

" He was the father of rural health nationally. It's not just North Carolina," said Tork Wade, who worked alongside Bernstein for three decades and succeeded him as director of the N.C. Office of Research, Demonstrations and Rural Health Development.

" You cross the state, and there are very few communities where there's not something there, a clinic or a project, that hasn't benefited from all that he's done," Wade said.

One of Bernstein's biggest accomplishments was recruiting doctors to rural parts. One of his biggest rewards was watching the health of rural communities improve. In some communities with new clinics, infant mortality rates fell by half.

Bernstein's goals evolved over the years. Today, the office he launched continues to oversee the rural health centers program, but it also runs a health program for farm workers; a prescription assistance program for the poor; and a program that aims to improve health access for the urban poor.

" What was magic about Jim was that he could work with such a wide breadth of people," said Nancy Lane, a health care management consultant. "He encouraged people to tackle the impossible, all the while making it look like lots of fun and an adventure."

The NC Medical Journal has dedicated its January-February 2006 issue to Jim and more can be read about his important work for North Carolina here. A Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fund also has been established in his honor.

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