FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 29, 2024

COLUMBIA, S.C. – As National Doctors Day is recognized across the country, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) extends its gratitude to South Carolina’s physicians for their dedication and compassion while providing high quality health care to patients.

Doctors play an essential role in the lives of patients every day, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that 83.4% of adults and 93.9% of children in the United States had a visit with a doctor or health care professional in 2022.

As of 2019, there were more than 13,000 licensed physicians in South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce.

“On behalf of DHEC, we extend our deepest gratitude to the doctors who perform incredibly important work to help protect the health and well-being of all South Carolinians,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC director of Health Promotion and Services & Chief Medical Officer. “Our state’s doctors work under challenging circumstances to deliver crucial medical care night and day, and here at DHEC, we see the benefits of the work they do each day.”

National Doctors Day is celebrated annually on March 30 to commemorate the first use of anesthesia during surgery on that date in 1842. With a history stretching back 90 years, the annual observance serves as a time to reflect on the role doctors play in healing and sustaining the country’s health.

“While DHEC regulates health facilities to ensure they provide services safely and reliably, it is our doctors and their fellow health care workers who are on the front lines providing essential services to South Carolinians,” said Gwendolyn Thompson, DHEC director of Healthcare Quality. “National Doctors Day provides us all with the opportunity to pause and reflect on the lifesaving care our state’s doctors perform daily.”

Learn more about National Doctors Day at nationaldoctorsday.org.

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