Ed Dalton Barham, MD, a longtime Mississippi radiologist and member of the state’s board of health died Saturday from complications due to COVID-19. He was 79.
“Tad” or “Taddy,” as he was called for short, was also an honorary fellow of the American College of Radiology, a designation bestowed only on 10%-15% of practicing physicians in the U.S. He spent most of his career (more than 35 years) at Merit Health Woman’s Hospital in Flowood, Mississippi, serving as chief medical officer and chairman of the board at the time of his death.
“He considered Woman's Hospital his second home, and his relationships with its doctors, employees, administrators and patients were a great joy to him,” his family wrote in an obituary published Jan. 11 in the Clarion-Ledger.
After receiving his medical degree in the early 1960s, Barham joined the army, training in radiology at Walter Reed Medical Center. He spent eight years there both teaching and practicing in imaging before departing in 1974 at the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Barham returned to his roots in Mississippi in 1975, serving as chief of radiology at several institutions over the years, including Woman’s Hospital. He additionally taught as an assistant clinical professor of radiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and served on the board of River Oaks Hospital.
Gov. Phil Bryan appointed the radiologist to the Mississippi State Board of Health in 2012, and he was elected board chairman in 2017. Barham continued on as a member of the body until his death Jan. 9.
“He felt it was a privilege and an honor to serve in a leadership position to help promote public health in Mississippi,” his family wrote.
You can read more about his life and how to make memorial donations in his honor below.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.