Having practiced medicine in Putnam County for three generations, the J.T. Moore family has built a reputation for supporting local health care.

That support includes a contribution to our recent campaign to raise $21 million for the construction of a new School of Nursing facility, which will be the first built specifically for the 25-year-old academic program.

When construction of the new facility is complete, the legacy of the Moore family will be memorialized in the naming of its Student Health Services nursing triage and treatment room.

“The university is honored to give this distinction to such a notable family,” says Tom Hamilton, interim vice president for University Advancement. “The Moore family name is significant to the history of health care in Putnam County, and their support contributed directly to the success of this fund-raising campaign.”

Dr. Lee Moore of Cookeville’s Upper Cumberland Urology Associates says his family’s support of the School of Nursing is a tradition that began with his late father, Dr. J.T. Moore Jr.

“As a TTU alumnus, a local physician and an active member of the community, he was a principal supporter and proponent of establishing a School of Nursing at Tennessee Tech,” Moore says. “That example has inspired us to continue the family’s support in his memory.”

J.T. Moore Sr., whose family and friends recall the way he "often treated patients who had no insurance and no way to pay for his services"

The family’s medical tradition began with the late Dr. J.T. Moore Sr., who practiced in Algood from 1899 to 1966 and who rode horseback to make house calls to patients in the early years of his career, when transportation by motor vehicle was still an oddity.

At first, however, his son wasn’t interested in following in those footsteps. He instead earned a degree from TTU in engineering and worked for a time at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

After serving in the Army Air Corps, though, he seemed to have a change of heart and enrolled in medical school in Memphis. After graduating and completing his internship, he worked in his father’s office, practicing alongside him for several years.

“When my father became a doctor in 1951, he was one of the youngest on staff at the hospital,” Moore says.

Dr. J.T. Moore Jr. quickly gained a reputation for his straightforward manner and outspoken way of relating to both his patients and his colleagues, Moore says, but his candor was also matched by his dedication to the profession.

“He read his medical journals daily to keep up-to-date with the latest health care practices, and he became one of the first board-certified doctors in Putnam County when he earned certification as a family practitioner in 1971,” Moore says. “He was a practicing physician for 48 years, and in that time, he saw a lot of changes in the medical profession."

During J.T. Moore Jr.’s career, for instance, the field of medicine wasn’t as specialized as it is today.

“In a typical day, the needs of his patients might have required anything from general surgery or orthopedics to gynecology and obstetrics,” Moore says. “Although he was considered a family practice doctor, he delivered 3,500 babies throughout his career.”

It wasn’t until the 1970s — when Moore and his two older brothers, Jimmy and Johnny, were ready to begin college and their subsequent health care training — that the field of medicine started the trend toward specialization we're familiar with today.

All three brothers graduated from TTU with degrees in chemistry — Jimmy and Johnny in 1974 and Lee in 1979. Johnny pursued training as a pharmacist and now lives and works in Nashville. Jimmy is a nurse anesthetist at Cookeville’s Upper Cumberland Anesthesia.

Lee says he chose urology because it allowed him, somewhat like his father, to treat a wide variety of patient needs.

“I was working as an orderly at the hospital when I saw my first surgery, and I knew then that when I became a doctor, I wanted to do surgery," he says. "But being able to interact with patients was just as important to me. Urology allows for both. My patients are both genders and all ages who have a wide variety of needs, from treatment of kidney stones to tumors, and I enjoy being able to provide service for a such a diverse group with diverse needs."

And the medical tradition continues, with Jimmy’s son, Jeff, now in his general surgery residency and the family’s fourth-generation doctor.

The Moore family's support of our program will also help greater numbers of qualified candidates receive their own specialized training in nursing.

When construction is complete on the new School of Nursing facility, for instance, it could nearly triple the number of program graduates, thereby increasing the number of qualified potential job candidates in Putnam County and throughout the Upper Cumberland.