Namesake said many supported effort
The seeds for what became the Jean B. Purvis Community Health Center were planted when the clinic’s namesake was in South Carolina.
Jean Purvis saw a similar clinic in Hilton Head, S.C., and upon her return decided Butler County needed a facility to serve the health needs of the working uninsured.
Purvis brought the idea back and started working with friends to create their own place where people who didn’t have insurance could go for help with their health.
“It is a volunteer organization, so it can ignore a lot of government red tape,” she said.
Purvis said it must have been much easier in Hilton Head, being a retirement destination, where doctors with time on their hands are abundant.
“We still manage. We have doctors and nurses. We have all kinds of professionals,” Purvis said.
Last year, she was honored as a board member emerita by the center directors. The designation recognized Purvis with perpetual honorary board membership.
“No one is more deserving of this title than Jean,” said David Konesni, board president at the time. “She did it all and enlisted countless others to make it work and prosper,” Konesni said of Purvis’ work to get the center off the ground. “Our community has this one-of-a-kind health care provider because of Jean’s vision and passion.”
The center at 103 Bonnie Drive in Summit Township provides medical, dental and behavioral health care as well as health and wellness education to the uninsured working people of Butler County and surrounding areas.
A decade after its founding in 2008, the Community Health Clinic of Butler County celebrated the milestone by changing its name to the Jean B. Purvis Community Health Center.
At a ceremony, Purvis said, “I worked with a whole lot of people to get the clinic started. It was not a solo thing by any means.”
Purvis said the name on the sign is insignificant. She said it may be her name, but it stands for every single one of the people who poured their hearts into the place — and for the people who still do.
“I’m proud in a way just because I represent the many people who worked for more than a year to get this started and keep this going for many years,” she said.
