The feat itself is worthy of praise, but it’s the timing that makes the accomplishment twice as improbable, and doubly noteworthy.

The Community Health Clinic of Butler County celebrates 10 years of existence providing free health care to individuals who don’t have any form of health insurance.

For a decade, the clinic has provided medical, dental and behavioral health services, along with free prescription medications for common medical conditions like diabetes. It has served more than 10,000 patients within our community since 2008. We owe the clinic and its volunteers 10,000 thank-yous for its dedication.

It’s impressive that the clinic has endured in the face of ever-increasing health care costs and quality standards.

A key ingredient is the hundreds of hours of volunteer service provided by community medical professionals and other volunteers, says John Righetti, clinic director of development and public relations. Doctors, nurses and dentists volunteer their time so that patients in a variety of situations can receive the care they couldn’t otherwise afford.

Even with the donated services, the clinic has an annual budget approaching a half-million dollars — $487,000 to be exact — and that’s completely covered by donations, grants and fundraisers, Righetti says. Not one penny comes from the state or federal government.

The fact alone that the clinic has flourished 10 years without government assistance is astounding What makes it even more astounding is the decade in which it flourished — a decade not only fraught with deep economic recession and chronic unemployment, but also marked by conflict and change within the realm of medical finance.

The previous decade was marked by the advent of the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — and continued uncertainty about its future amid a Republican-dominated Congress and Trump administration. Recession-fueled unemployment pushed many individuals and households from one health care insurance status to another, leaving them at least temporarily without coverage and in need of the clinic’s care. Likewise, individuals once covered by a spouse’s employer’s health plan suddenly found themselves no longer eligible under new ACA guidelines and in need of alternative options like the Community Health Clinic.

It’s noteworthy to draw attention to some facts regarding the clinic’s operation. The five medical conditions most frequently treated in 2017, in order of frequency of diagnosis, were hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, anxiety and depression. That’s not much of a surprise, is it?

“If you’ve been out of work for a while or you have a low-income job to make ends meet, it’s not an uncommon scenario that you’ve ended up with depression and anxiety in the process,” he said.

Likewise, a recent focus on food deserts and inadequate nutrition options corroborates with the rest of the most frequent treatments.

While this observation is far from a scientifically significant sample, the statistical trends tell a story about a significant segment of our community.

Butler County has no board of health. However, we are blessed with a gifted and dedicated corps of medical professionals and paraprofessionals with an array of health-related expertise.

While there’s an angel on one of our shoulders whispering: “Don’t fix what isn’t broken,” there’s another angel suggesting the community might build on the successes of a 10-year effort like the Community Health Clinic of Butler County and establish some sort of entity to function like a board of health, if not indeed become an accredited board of health — the kind serving more than 3,000 other communities across our nation.