About Us

The North Carolina Pediatric Society (NCPS) and the North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics is one organization with two names representing over 1,200 pediatricians in the state.  Pediatricians' activities range from office care of infants, children and adolescents to age 21, to research and teaching at one of the state’s five academic medical centers, to child advocacy in the private and public sectors.  Pediatricians focus on the normal growth, development and emotional well being of their patients through a schedule of well child evaluations recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).  Early recognition of abnormalities and intervention to correct or ameliorate problems is at the heart of pediatric practice.  Preventive care is the emphasis of these visits including immunizations and screening (before symptoms develop) for anemia, lead, vision and hearing problems and others.

Our members are child health advocates.  They maintain a close affiliation with child advocacy groups such as the NC Child Advocacy Institute, the Covenant with North Carolina’s Children, Commission on Children with Special Health Needs, March of Dimes, NC Day Care Commission, NC Council on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and many others.  The State Government Affairs Committee is active in monitoring legislation at the state and federal levels.  Pediatricians are also busy working in partnership with the private sector to find solutions to health care problems.   NCPS has worked on safety issues such as seat belt regulations, playground safety and pick-up truck safety as well as laws pertaining to child abuse and neglect and the sexual exploitation of children in advertising.  NCPS members were instrumental in the passage of North Carolina Health Choice, the State Child Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) for children in families with income up to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines (up to $36,200 for a family of 4 in 2002).  The Society is also concerned about care for children with special health care needs, and has advocated the expansion of Medicaid coverage for children.

Our History

Nationally, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was founded in 1930 and had a state organization in North Carolina as early as 1935.  Because of the strict membership requirements of the AAP, not all North Carolina Pediatric Society members qualified for the AAP but many of the NCPS leaders belonged to both organizations.  As early as 1945, consideration was given to a merger of the organizations.  The merger of the North Carolina Pediatric Society with the North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics took place in 1967-68. 

The North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics/North Carolina Pediatric Society, Inc. was chartered as a North Carolina not-for-profit corporation, exempt from income tax under Section 501(c)(6) of the IRS code in 1989.  Officers of the Society on the date of incorporation were: E. Stephen Edwards, MD, President; David T. Tayloe, Jr., MD, Vice-President; Olson Huff, MD, Secretary; and, Mike Dennis, MD, Treasurer. 

When NCPS was founded in the 1930s, the idea that children have special developmental and health needs was new.  Preventive health practices now associated with childcare, such as immunizations and regular health exams, were only just beginning to change the custom of treating children as "miniature" adults.  In the 1960's, NCPS took stands on PKU screening and measles immunization.  In the 1970's the Society took stands on day care, child abuse, ending immunization for smallpox, adoption of handicapped children, Child Advocacy Commission, and the delicate issue of minor's consent for health care.  In the 1980's, the Society made a decision to become more politically active by hiring a lobbyist (Henry Jones, Jr.) to represent the interests of children and pediatricians in the North Carolina General Assembly, and initiated the establishment of the North Carolina Childhood Vaccine-Related Injury Compensation Program (1985-86).  The North Carolina program was the first such program in the nation and due to federal legislation in the following year, the only state program of its kind.  Significant accomplishments in the 1990's include promoting the initiation of a Universal Childhood Vaccine Distribution Program (1994) and the creation of Health Choice, a State Child Health Insurance Program (1998).  On January 1, 2001, Medicaid rates were set at parity with the Medicare fee schedule, due in part to the influence of pediatricians.

Like child health care, NCPS has also changed substantially.  From an organization that met primarily to get pediatric practitioners together for continuing education and fellowship, it has expanded its mission to include the formation of policy to promote the health, safety, and well being of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults in North Carolina. In 1999, the Society started a new corporation, the NCPS Foundation. This 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation is able to receive grants, gifts and contributions to promote the mission of the organization by generating non-dues revenue.