HISTORY

With over 250 employees – including more than 60 physicians – Cabarrus Family Medicine has grown from a single practice location, starting over 20 years ago in Mt. Pleasant, to now include a total of 12 practice sites in Cabarrus, Stanly, Rowan and Mecklenburg counties. In the process, the organization has come to be what is now the 19th largest employer in Cabarrus County.

Dr. L. Allen Dobson, Jr. founded Mount Pleasant Family Physicians in 1983. He took over the practice of retiring Dr. Archie Barringer, a Mount Pleasant native who had been in practice since returning from World War II. Dr. Barringer was famous for his theory of chronic brucellosis as the etiology of disease and for his preventative diet. There are still patients in the practice who follow this today.

Over the years, MPFP grew rapidly, and Dr. Dobson was joined by Tom Earnhardt, PA in 1984, Dr. Charles Rhodes in 1987, and Dr. Christopher “Reb” Snyder in 1990. In 1991, MPFP opened its first new practice site in Concord. This office was first housed in the old H&M building, on Lake Concord Road but was later moved to the Medical Mall in 1992.

In 1994, MPFP joined with CMC-Northeast (then Cabarrus Memorial Hospital) to jointly plan the establishment of a new family medicine residency training program along with a network of family medicine clinics to support the primary care needs of the community. This residency program would train new physicians for three years in the specialty of family medicine.

In 1996, NEMC and MPFP entered into an agreement to establish Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency, Inc, a not-for-profit subsidiary of NEMC to operate the residency program and clinics. The first class of residents began in July 1996, and 1999 marked the graduation of 8 new family physicians for CFMRP.

In 2001, Cabarrus Family Medicine purchased the clinic operations back from Northeast Medical Center/ CFMR, Inc. and entered into a new agreement with NEMC to continue to manage the program and serve as faculty. To date, there have been over sixty graduates of the program, with many going on to practice in the area and other rural areas across the state.

As MPFP continued to grow, additional sites opened their doors to new patients. In 1995, two new family practice sites were opened in Kannapolis and Harrisburg to serve residents of other Cabarrus County locations. Other clinic locations were established, starting with Richfield in 1997 and eventually including the Poplar Tent and Albemarle locations. In 1996, MPFP changed its name to Cabarrus Family Medicine, PA, to include all its practice sites under one title.

Expansion culminated in November of 2003 with the renovation of the old Kramer and Eugene’s building. This Copperfield Location is now home to the CFM Residency Program, executive and administrative offices of CFM, the Concord clinic, and Psychological and Behavioral Health. The building also accommodates a 5600 square-foot conference center, as well as Moose Pharmacy, Magnolia’s Catering, and NEMC Patient Account Services.

On May 1, 2007, Cabarrus Family Medicine agreed to join the Carolinas Physicians Network (CPN), a regional network of medical practices operated by Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS). “We are tremendously pleased to have this outstanding group of family physicians, psychologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses and other staff members joining the CHS family,” said Michael C. Tarwater, President and CEO of CHS.

“The quality of healthcare in any given community is a function of several variables, including the excellence and variety of hospital-based services and the quality of services provided in outpatient settings. The impact of Cabarrus Family Medicine is extraordinary, because they provide crucial patient care services in a variety of clinical settings, while providing a medical home to more than 70,000 patients throughout the region.”

Today, Cabarrus Family Medicine still retains the same personal and community emphases as it did early on in its single doctor, small town history. Cabarrus Family Medicine offers the latest innovations in medicine and has invested heavily in information technology. The practice is looked upon as a leader across the state and nation as being one of the most advanced clinical practices, available right here in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Cabarrus Family Medicine is a place where technology meets tradition.