Wilkes Medical Center was opened in 1952 as Wilkes General Hospital. In 2017, Wake Forest Baptist Health brought the hospital, at the time known as Wilkes Regional Medical Center, into their system. WMC is the largest hospital in northwestern North Carolina and is Wilkes County's fourth largest employer. West Park, formerly a large shopping center built in the 1970s, was, starting in 2000, transformed into a large medical park with numerous offices for physicians, medical specialists, pharmacies, physical therapists, and other medical and health-related fields.
