Reid Thomas Holmes was born in Wildwood, New Jersey, in 1918. He graduated from Duke University and was an administrator at Duke Hospital before coming to Winston-Salem in the mid-1940s.
He was the administrator of Baptist Hospital for 29 years, retiring in 1974. Under his administration, the hospital grew into a major regional medical center. In 1959, the hospital opened the 80-bed Progressive Care Unit. In this unit, patients who didn’t require full nursing care could be housed at a reduced cost. This was a departure from usual hospital practice.
The School of Pastoral Care was developed during his administration, one of the early programs to train ministers to meet the spiritual needs of patients and their families.
Holmes was a former president of the North Carolina Hospital Association, and a former board member of Wachovia Bank and Trust Company and Piedmont Federal Savings and Loan Association.
Holmes passed away in 1976.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
