In 1908, its 30th year, the Board hired its first full time State Health Officer, Dr. Charles Frederick Williams, at a yearly salary of $2,500. Dr. Williams served for 3 years and later become the superintendent of the South Carolina State Hospital in 1915, where he achieved "distinction as ... a true friend of the mentally ill" in his thirty years of outstanding service.  The hiring of the first State Health Officer was a major turning point in the history of the agency: instead of a voluntary association whose physicians served without pay, the Board became a full-time organization dedicated to protecting the public's health.
	From the annual report: “The most important health legislation enacted in recent years was the provision made by the General Assembly at the last session for the appointment of a State Health Officer.  The appointment was given to Dr. C. F. Williams, of Columbia, who has entered upon the work with a just conception of the obligations of his office and in performing the duties imposed upon him has shown himself earnest and thorough with a zealous interest in the betterment of the  health conditions of the State.”
	A pressing need is a laboratory for bacteriological work. $5,000 was requested for diphtheria antitoxin. “Last year attention was called to the importance of instructing teachers and school children in the fundamental principles of hygiene and sanitary science. $250 was requested.
	Twenty-ninth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of South Carolina for the Fiscal Year 1908 to the Legislature of South Carolina. Gonzales & Bryant, state printers, Columbia, SC 1909