Inspiration in the Face of Adversity: How Dr. H. Rembert Malloy Broke Down Barriers, Beat the Odds, and Strived for Unity
James G. Hanes (right), Chairman of the Community Relations Project, presents Certificates of Merit from the National Urban League, 1950. The recipients are: Dan Andrews, Jr., Stella Bradshaw, and Dr. H. Rembert Malloy.
By Lindsay Dinkins
Society thrives on visionaries and inspirational leaders to lead us through hard times, discrimination, and what may seem like impossible situations. We use them as examples through their quotes that resonate through generations and their deeds that are still remembered through stories and memories of those who were directly impacted. Inspiration is a tidal wave created by an otherwise ordinary individual: their impact is the epicenter.
Dr. H Rembert Malloy was an inspirational tidal wave, sweeping through the lives of many. Yet, according to those closest to him, he was always humble even through his many successes. He stood up in the face of adversity, practicing medicine as a black man in a segregated world.
After completing medical school at Howard University, he began working at Reynolds Memorial Hospital, a segregated hospital in Winston-Salem. Although black doctors did administer care to their patients, if the patient ever became more ill than they could provide care for, the black doctors would be forced to surrender the patient to the hospital, the white doctors. As a result, many of the black doctors, like Malloy, held on to their patients as long as possible.
“It was a matter of survival, you see,” Malloy said in a Winston-Salem Journal article on May 24, 2004. “So when [a black doctor] did send patients to the hospital, they were quite sick, and they often died. From that, the white doctors got the impression that the black doctors didn’t know what they were doing.”
Malloy wasn’t just a black doctor living in a segregated world, he did things most doctors would have been hesitant to do. He treated everyone that came through his door no matter who they were or where they came from. If he had the power to help, he felt as though he should do whatever he could.
“He became the medical salvation for a number of people,” the Rev. J. Donald Ballard said. “It mattered not whether you were able to pay him or not. He would treat you anyhow.” This lead to one of the greatest medical miracles in history: Malloy’s famous Omphalocele surgery.
A baby with Omphalocele is born normal except for the intestines which protrude through a large defect in the abdominal wall. In Malloy’s baby’s case, the intestines were covered by a transparent membrane through which all of the small and a portion of the large intestine could be seen. She was operated on two hours and 30 minutes after birth and returned to the Recovery Room after 48 minutes of surgery on December 12th, 1948. It was a success and a huge leap for medicine.
This case was written up in the Journal of the National Medical Association. Even though this made him a big name in the medical field, Malloy felt it wasn’t this sole operation that made him successful.
“I was the first black surgeon to practice surgery exclusively in the South,” Dr. Malloy said. “The only doors [that] operation opened for me were the doors to my house; it helped me to build my house.”
Today, though Dr. Malloy is gone having died May 23, 2004, he is still a huge inspirational leader in Winston-Salem and it’s surrounding communities. He worked hard and was very generous of his time and knowledge of medicine. He helped in donating land for the city’s first black library. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Forsyth County Chapter of the League of Crippled Children, Children’s Center, Visiting Nurses Association, Forsyth County Tuberculosis and Health Association, Forsyth County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, Triad Chapter of Alzheimer’s Association, Patterson Avenue YMCA, Winston Lake YMCA, Best Choice Center, Bethesda Center, and many more. He was Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery of Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Attending Surgeon at Forsyth Memorial Hospital, Attending Surgeon at Medical Park Hospital, Chief and President of Staff at Kate B. Reynolds Memorial Hospital, Associate Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at the Area Defense Hospital among others. He has to his credit thirteen scientific publications, twelve significant post-retirement achievements, and many, many other awards and achievements.
“His skill was uncanny. His ability was unusual, and his caring was out of the ordinary,” Ballard said.
©2011 Lindsay Dinkins
