Pediatrician David T. Tayloe, Jr., MD, received the distinguished T. Reginald Harris Memorial Award in conjunction with the North Carolina Medical Society’s Annual Meeting on October 25. This year marks the 15th anniversary that the award—a plaque and a monetary prize of $2,500—have been given by The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME) in honor of the life and memory of T. Reginald Harris, MD, one of its founding members.
Dr. Tayloe is described by his nominators as a “…selfless public servant in his community and state, and a leader in pediatric practice and organized medicine.”
“It was obvious to those who knew him [early in his career] that he would always strive for excellence in medicine at all levels,” his nominators said, “and we never doubted that he would assume leadership in the achievement of the goal. He has always met and exceeded our expectations.”
Dr. Tayloe, a native of Washington, NC, and the son of a pediatrician, founded a multi-office pediatric practice that serves the communities of Goldsboro, Princeton, Mount Olive, and LaGrange. Beyond the realm of pediatric practice, he is also an advocate and much sought-after speaker on child advocacy. A compassionate and dedicated physician, Dr. Tayloe sets high standards for safe and quality care.
He served on North Carolina’s Child Health Insurance Program Task Force and the Commission on Children with Special Healthcare Needs for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. He also served on the Committee for Action for Children NC to develop children’s health insurance proposals. He was appointed by Governor Hunt to the North Carolina Institute of Medicine in 1999, and he served on the Governor’s Board of Directors for Health Information Exchange. He provides valuable guidance as a consultant to Community Care of North Carolina in the development of a program to improve the care of children with special needs.
In his local community, Dr. Tayloe served as chairperson of the Wayne County First Steps Consortium, a program for decreasing risk of child abuse and neglect. He volunteers his time as medical director for “Reach Out and Read North Carolina,” and he is an advocate for more effective multi-lingual health care for children. Dr. Tayloe led efforts toward school desegregation, promotion of organized sports for children, and adolescent pregnancy reduction. He served on the Goldsboro City School Board of Education. For these efforts, he was honored with the “David Tayloe, Sr., Award in Community Pediatrics” from the North Carolina Pediatric Society and with the “Harvey Estes Physician Community Service Award” from the North Carolina Medical Society.
Dr. Tayloe has served as a leader in the medical staff of Wayne Memorial Hospital and in numerous roles with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), both as president and vice-president of the North Carolina Chapter. He was also appointed to the AAP’s Committee on Community Health Services and served two terms on the AAP Board of Directors. He served as president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Most recently, he has been appointed to the American Medical Association Council on Legislation and continues to serve AAP as a delegate to the AMA House of Delegates.
A Morehead Scholar and a Morehead Fellow in Medicine, Dr. Tayloe graduated with honors from UNC School of Medicine in 1974. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Tayloe’s commitment to medicine is also a big part of his family life. He and his wife have raised four medical professionals: two pediatricians, a pharmacist, and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. One of his children, Dr. Katherine MacDonald, who practices with her father at Goldsboro Pediatrics, accepted the Harris Award on behalf of her father, who was not able to attend.
CCME is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality in the Southeast. Since 1983, CCME has worked with health care providers and stakeholders on quality improvement initiatives for better patient care and cost effective outcomes. CCME’s corporate office is located in Cary, NC, and an additional office is located in Columbia, SC. To learn more about CCME, visit www.thecarolinascenter.org.
