Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services was organized to deliver comprehensive health services to residents of the socially and economically deprived areas of Beaufort and Jasper Counties, South Carolina. The impetus for the center began after a news report illustrated with shocking clarity the poverty and disease that affected the two counties. The negative attention drawn by the report awakened politicians who were eager to address the situation and in 1970 a $754,373 grant from the Federal Office of Health Affairs was used to create the center.
The mission of the center was to address the dire health condition of the population. The impetus for the center began after a news report illustrated with shocking clarity the poverty and disease that affected the two counties.
Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services opened its doors in 1970 with an enthusiasm to accomplish this task and to put into action its belief that “health is a right, not a privilege.” This belief guided the center both in its nascent days and its current operations.
The interrelated nature of poverty and health was evident in the early experiences of the center. It was impossible, for example, to cure worms in children who presented at the center, only to return to unsanitary living conditions. Living conditions also had to be addressed if the prevalence of illnesses was to be reduced. Living conditions also had to be addressed if the prevalence of illnesses was to be reduced.
This inclusive view of health care set BJHCHS apart from other providers in the area. The recognition of the patient’s environment as contributing to health was not widely recognized; nonetheless, the center ignored political pressure to treat only the clinical problems, insisting on addressing the reality that health is a product of a patient’s total environment.
One of the first large-scale projects undertaken by the center and its staff was to address the need for clean drinking water, by coordinating the installation of new septic tanks and deep wells.
The center’s early recognition of social determinants such as hunger and poverty as a factor in health is a key reason its efforts were so successful. Worms and malnutrition among its patients have largely been eradicated in the nearly 40 years that BJHCHS has been in operation, serving as a testament to the work of the center. Its ability to combat disease and promote health within the community can be seen not only in the center’s longevity but also in its expansion. What started in two counties with four sites has grown to three counties and eight sites, with 18 doctors providing over 80,000 visits and patient encounters.
Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services found resilience in its early challenges and in its successes. Early funding battles taught the center the importance of securing funds apart from the federal government in order to ensure its continued viability. In addition to it’s federal grant, BJHCHS has secured funding from other sources including Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Care, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, SCDCP – Diabetes Care, and the United Way of the Lowcountry, to name a few.
BJHCHS remains to champion the cause of health care for the rural poor long after the television cameras left South Carolina. The community which once viewed BJHCHS with suspicion for its unorthodox methods now recognizes its vital role in promoting access to high quality health care.
