Persons employed in health care accounted for 17 percent of the personal income in Henderson County by 1970. There were approximately 730 persons employed in the health care field.

Ambulance Service

Henderson County began operating a county ambulance service in 1963.
In May 1963, the N.C. General Assembly passed House Bill 594 authorizing the Henderson County Board of Commissioners to levy a special tax for the purpose of financing a county ambulance service. Today, this is known as the Emergency Medical Service.
The first ambulances were supplied by Jackson Funeral Service. The ambulance service operated out of the courthouse annex.

Mental Health

In 1965 the Henderson County Mental Health Association was organized. This was the first organization to begin addressing the needs of mental health in Henderson County. It was the Henderson County Extension Office through its homemaker groups and community clubs that first raised the issue of mental health in Henderson County.
Within three years plans were underway for a mental health clinic.
The first officers of the association were Donald Kempton, president; Dr. Kenneth Cosgrove, vice president; and Vivian Hill Jones, secretary-treasurer. Other early organizers of mental health care in Henderson County were Mary McDuffie, Dr. Frances Twiggs, Lois Hartman, Sam Padgett, Boyce Whitmire, the Rev. John Neville, Sarah Gilbert, Ansley Cope, Dr. Norman Boyer, Dr. George Hardgrove, Dr. Phillip Sellers, Rev. Earl Kilpatrick, Rev. Ian Walker, Clyde Jackson, Ernest Wallace and J. Howard Shoemaker.
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