A stainless surgical cup etched with the words “Colored Unit” — a relic from the time of segregated medical care — is a touchstone Mark Gordon sees most every day on his desk.
Gordon, the first Black person to be named president of Cone Health’s North and East Region — a job that puts him at the helm of both Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville and Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington — says his success requires awareness of the past.
And he hopes his high-profile post will make him a role model for Black youth, he said during a recent interview.
“There’s an opportunity for me to give back … for young people to see someone they identify with,” Gordon said. “And it creates new opportunities for them.”
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At 59, the Pinehurst native has been a first in four other top healthcare jobs, having been inspired to become a health administrator when he was just 16.
Growing up the son of teachers and grandson of farmers, Gordon considered civil rights leader and politician Andrew Young and tennis great Arthur Ashe to be his role models.
“I would look to those two individuals,” Gordon recalled. “I identified with the way they carried themselves, the way they spoke about things, the things they stood for. I said that’s what I want to look like. That’s what I want to be — a leader.”
And he’s become that.
“His presence as a regional leader in Rockingham and Alamance counties really sets an example for young people,” said Mandy Eaton, Cone Health’s COO.
And within Cone Health, which employs 13,000 people, “young, aspiring leaders … see Mark as a mentor,” Eaton said.
Donald Gorham, Reidsville’s first Black mayor in its 150-year history, thinks Gordon will be an inspiration to the younger generation.
“Seeing him lets them know high positions are available to young Black men and women,” Gorham said. “His position will probably open doors for others in the industry.”
Those doors began opening for Gordon when he was a teen working part-time at his hometown hospital cafeteria. Courage and a friendly nature helped him weld a formative relationship there. One day, Gordon saw a man dining alone and decided to sit down and chat with him. “And I struck up a friendship with the CEO,” he said.
A “deep relationship” formed and the administrator began letting Gordon observe hospital board meetings, teaching him about the management of a medical facility, recalled Gordon, who still speaks by phone with his friend, now in his 80s.
“I grew up in a household that was very civic-minded,” he said, “and I thought (running a hospital) was very interesting.”
A hospital was an anchor of any community, like a school or a church, Gordon realized, and he decided healthcare would be his career.
Gordon thinks big. In fact, he wants to create a national model in Rockingham County for other rural areas that struggle with very few healthcare providers.
Rockingham, whose population of 91,000 is aging and poor, was ranked among the nation’s top 10 counties that suffer from a shortage of medical providers.
The sobering rating was calculated and announced last year by the national research group, Health Information and Management Systems Society. The group found Rockingham has roughly one doctor for each of it’s 1,948 patients.
“How can we close that gap? We need a home-care model in Rockingham County,” said Gordon, explaining he will work with leaders at UNC Rockingham Health Care in Eden and nonprofit groups in the region to promote creative solutions to the shortfall of general practitioners and specialists.
Some of the solutions will be “real hands on,” Gordon said, noting that he will consider proposing a plan that would feature house calls by providers.
“There are a lot of things you cannot learn unless you go to someone’s home,” he said. “When you go to someone’s home, you understand whether they have air conditioning, sanitation, enough food …”
Rockingham residents are “fine individuals who take great pride in their community. I say, ‘How can I take that energy and find creative ways for people to create positive changes?”’
“I get a sense of where they come from. I know these people.”
Gordon is humbled by his position.
“You enter that space with one of respect and privilege,” he said. “Something’s occurring here with you. It’s a first … an opportunity for you to give back.”
