At the turn of the century, when the hospital was founded, Birmingham was a gritty industrial town. Poor sanitary conditions bred disease. Working conditions in local mills and mines were very dangerous. Accidents were common. Laborers and their families urgently needed competent medical care, but they had little money to pay for this service.

Dr. C.N. Carraway saw an innovative solution to this problem. He contracted with local companies, agreeing to provide health care for workers and their families in an exchange for a small monthly fee. In modern terms, he created a captitated-payment health maintenance organization. To Dr. Carraway, this was simply a way to provide health care to people who needed it.

Medical technology has changed dramatically in the years since Carraway was founded. Laser surgery. Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Nuclear medicine. But the tradition upon which Carraway Methodist Health Systems was founded remains the same. It is still an organization committed to excellence, an institution reaching out in new directions to provide health care for the people of Alabama.

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