Welcome To North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center

Our History

Since its opening Feb. 23, 1981, at the North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center has saved hundreds of lives and restored thousands of people, both children and adults, to lives of health and productivity. At the same time, the Burn Center has advanced the scientific knowledge of burn care and rehabilitation. Through its educational and outreach programs, the Burn Center has greatly improved upon the quality of emergency burn treatment across the state and has been instrumental in preventing untold numbers of burn injuries. In doing so, it has become recognized as one of the best comprehensive burn centers in the world.

One Man. One Mission.

The opening of the Burn Center was the culmination of one man’s mission. John Stackhouse owned an electrical contracting company in Goldsboro. When several of his workers suffered severe electrical burns in the 1960s, he learned that the state had no burn center. Based on this finding Stackhouse set out to improve the quality and accessibility of burn care in North Carolina.

After Stackhouse pledged $40,000 of his own money, the board of the Rural Electric Association voted to match it. The state association of volunteer firefighters also pledged $40,000.  In 1973, the Goldsboro Jaycees sold jars of jelly to help raise money. The statewide organization adopted the idea, and the first Jaycee Jelly Week was held in January 1974. Jaycee and Jaycette chapters across the state raised nearly $150,000 by selling jelly for $1 a jar. Stackhouse bought the first jar for $10,000.

A Legacy Of Caring

The North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center offers over 25 years of service to the citizens of North Carolina. We tend to think of the Burn Center as a physical facility, but really it is a team of health care professionals who have been serving around the clock in probably the most stressful environment in the entire hospital. Tribute should be paid to the people of North Carolina for making it possible. The Burn Center staff takes care of those who are the most severely injured and in the most pain. They commit themselves to taking care of people in their time of greatest need.