• 1980 

Society Hill Family Health Clinic opened its doors with 5 employees and provided services to 24 patients. Patient care services began on September 8, 1980, at temporary offices in the Neighborhood Center on Hall Street. 

•1981 

Society Hill Family Health Clinic moved into a new building. An open house was held in Society Hill, and almost three hundred community residents attended and toured the new office. 

• 1982 

Local Society Hill area residents received the benefit of dental services made possible by a Society Hill Family Health Clinic lease arrangement with a local area dentist. Before this Arrangement, there was no dentist in town. 

•1983 

With Dr. Andrew Horn's resignation, Dr. Gary Barker and the McLeod Regional Medical Center Family Practice Residency program provided rotating physician coverage. 

•1984 

Dr. Gary Barker began seeing patients full-time at Society Hill. This critical arrangement provided Society Hill Family Health Clinic with the continuity needed to keep these vital services open and available to Society Hill residents. 

• 1985 

The Bishopville, Clio, and McColl sites became part of Society Hill Family Health Clinic. The organization is fortunate to have individuals on staff and on its Board of Directors who were part of the early development of Lee Medical Practice.

•1986

Society Hill Family Health Clinic began business as Pee Dee Community Health Services. The name change reflected the growth of the organization.

•1987

McColl's office elected to discontinue its association with Pee Dee Community Health Services.

•1988

CareSouth Carolina received the first of many ongoing special perinatal services funding. The initial perinatal grant was a“demonstration” grant, one of only twenty in the nation.

•1989

CareSouth Carolina received national recognition on CBS Evening News, ABC Today Show, Time Magazine, and NPR for its success with perinatal care in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina.

•1990

Due to the devastation of Hurricane Hugo and the already bursting-at-the-seams Society Hill facility, Senator Fritz Hollings successfully set aside an approximate $500,000 and congressionally “earmarked” for a new building in Society Hill.

•1991

After a considerable discussion with the South Carolina State Commission on Aging, CareSouth Carolina began services as the Pee Dee Regional Area Agency on Aging. As the AAA, CareSouthCarolina is the headquarters for planning, coordinating, monitoring, delivering, and evaluating services to older people in the Pee Dee Region (Florence, Marion, Dillon, Marlboro, Chesterfield, and Darlington counties). CareSouth Carolina is the only community health center in the nation that has this.

Designation as an Area Agency on Aging. This unique position has provided us with many opportunities to plan and develop creative and innovative projects directed toward this important population group.

•1992

CareSouth Carolina received Special Infant Reduction funding and kicked off its perinatal campaign, “Doing It Right!” - a one-stop concept designed to coordinate a comprehensive perinatal services program.

•1993

After years of planning and discussion, CareSouth Carolina opened its Hartsville satellite office. This was a crucial step toward linking the Society Hill and Bishopville services. Developed to be close to Carolina Pines for obstetric hospitalization purposes, the office served as a major Darlington County perinatal provider.

•1994

Family Care of Cheraw merged with Pee Dee Community Health Services. Dr. Stephen Smith joined Pee Dee Community Health Services and practiced with the organization through 2024.

•1995

CareSouth Carolina received Rural Health Outreach funding for Project SIDE effects, a program to reduce the impact of polypharmacy on older people.

•1996

The organization's name was changed from Pee Dee Community Health Services to CareSouth Carolina, better fitting its steadfast mission to its patients, employees, and communities. The corporate office moved from Society Hill to the Cargill building in downtown Hartsville.

The organization was one of the first to invest in Hartsville’s nationally recognized downtown revitalization efforts. Later that year, CareSouth Carolina celebrated the groundbreaking anniversary of its aptly named Rosa Lee Gerald Center in Society Hill. The late Rosa Lee Gerald was a longtime board member of CareSouth Carolina and was one of the key leaders in bringing medical services to the Society Hill community.

 

•1997

 

CareSouth Carolina opened the doors of a new $1.4 million state-of-the-art medical facility. The event marked a milestone in the organization’s commitment to the people of that community.

•1998

CareSouth Carolina joined the BPHC/IHI collaborative process and has been at the forefront of population-based medicine. This PDSA improvement process jump-started the organization’s performance improvement program, and the resulting PECSYS registry database has become the foundation of much of the organization’s Improvement efforts since.

•1999

CareSouth Carolina adopted the Care Model, a cultural shift in delivering care: it is patient-focused instead of clinician-focused.

•2000

CareSouth Carolina was one of only 15 ambulatory care facilities in South Carolina to receive accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

•2001

CareSouth Carolina’s community development staff facilitated community engagement and developed a plan to address the problem of HIV/AIDS that had become a real problem in the communities we served. As a result, CareSouth Carolina received Ryan White Title III Care Act funding. The organization began providing primary care services to those with HIV/AIDS in Chesterfield, Darlington, Lee, and Marlboro Counties. CareInnovations combines high-quality health care with other services that specifically address the needs of HIV/AIDS patients. CareSouth Carolina received the South Carolina Rural Health Care Association’s 2001 Outstanding Rural Health Practice Award.

•2002

CareSouth Carolina opened an office for the community in Lake View, Dillon County. Services include medical, behavioral health, and other support services. As a result of partnerships with the Hospital and the town of McColl, CareSouth Carolina opened the doors of a new medical center in downtown McColl. CareSouth Carolina was profiled for the National Coalition on Health and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s“Accelerating Change Today (A.C.T) – For America’s Health” report on best practices in treating chronic diseases. Dr. Leon Hunt and his practice joined CareSouth Carolina in Bishopville.

•2003

CareSouth Carolina partnered with McLeod Health, the USC School of Medicine, and Marlboro Park Hospital and acquired the McLeod Family Medical Center in Bennettsville. CareSouth Carolina moved the Hartsville facility to a much larger site. The move expanded access to health services for residents of Hartsville and the Darlington County community. The organization broke ground on a 6,600-square-foot site in Bishopville. CareSouth Carolina announced the formation of CareFirst Carolina, a private operating foundation designed to attract local, state, and national private investment to improve access to health and lifecare services in the community CareSouth Carolina serves. CareSouth Carolina focused on integrating its population-based approach with innovative, evidence-based medicine to ensure patients receive the care they deserve.

•2004

CareSouth Carolina opened a pediatric site in Bennettsville with two physicians on staff. CareSouth Carolina opened pediatrics, located in Hartsville, which is the same facility as the Hartsville Center. The organization was profiled in the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s 2004 Progress Report for its success in providing equitable care across all races. CareSouth Carolina has been featured on qualityhealth.org and has been quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on The state of Health Care in America for its ability to provide cost-effective quality care for the most vulnerable of patients. The first community health center in the nation to adopt and actively track a panel of equity measures to ensure that the high-quality care provided is fair and equitable to all. Initial measures were adopted in June with the entire panel in place and tracked monthly since January 2005. All outcome measures have been within ± 10% since May 2008. CareSouth Carolina pioneered the concept of patient loyalty and confidence in the delivery of patient-centered healthcare services. The organization began a program to recognize and incentivize the generation of PDSAs/tests of change with an eye toward improvement. The “Innovator” program, as it has been called, has been awarded more than 180 times and has been the catalyst for much of the improvement at CareSouth Carolina.

•2005

CareSouth Carolina opened a site at 500 W Boulevard in Chesterfield. The building is named the Perry Center in honor of Doctors Jerry and William Perry. The brothers practiced together from 1954 until 1987 at 500 W Boulevard.

•2006

U.S. Representative John Spratt visited CareSouth Carolina to celebrate National Community Health Center Week. CareSouth Carolina was recognized as one of the nation’s top six community health centers for improving clinical depression outcomes. The organization achieved this recognition by integrating behavioral health counseling into a family practice setting.

•2007

CareSouth Carolina partnered with the Office of Minority Health at the University of South Carolina. The organization began offering services on reducing health disparities of stroke and heart disease in the African American community. The Stroke Mobile program focuses on Darlington and Marlboro Counties. CareSouth Carolina began the widespread adoption of reliability as a management concept after several successful tests in 2006 and early 2007. The results were dramatic improvements in every critical process that the organization has applied the idea to date. Improvements vary in intensity, but all of the processes have achieved a reliability rating of 10-1 or higher,gh with some as high as 10-3. This improvement has increased collections, improved patient safety, and made day-to-day operations much smoother. CareSouth Carolina became a national leader in the development-centered medical home concept. She began tracking the patient- as a system-wide measure of the ability to meet our patients’ desire to see their primary care provider. The organization met the national goal for Depression patient outcomes (50% in control) in an existing panel of patients.

•2008

CareSouth Carolina opened a new pharmacy at the Hartsville site. CSC Community Pharmacy is a community retail pharmacy that serves CareSouth Carolina patients and the general public. The pharmacy offers significant discount pricing on prescription medication to CareSouthCarolina's patients.

•2009

CareSouth Carolina was awarded the Community Health Center of the Year by the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association.CareSouth Carolina was lauded on the national stage for quality health care. Out of more than 1,900 community health centers nationwide, CareSouth Carolina was one of only three asked to present its story at a national conference focused on showcasing those that have achieved and sustained improved patient health outcomes. CareSouth Carolina patients are healthier than most people in most places, and the care being provided by the organization is more cost-effective. For example, according to a study conducted by the SC Office of Research and Statistics, diabetics receiving care at CareSouth Carolina only cost the system $343, compared with an average at a comparable provider of $1,591 a year in South Carolina.

•2010

The South Carolina Primary Health Care Association awarded Ann Lewis the 2010 Margaret J. Weston Award. The Margaret J. Weston Award is presented to the individual who has persisted in overcoming barriers and obstacles to ensure quality health care services are provided to those most in need. Beginning in 2011, dental services will be offered to school-age children through our Dental Mobile Unit.

•2011

Surgeon General of the Air Force Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles B. Green brought a team to Hartsville to hear presentations by CareSouth management staff, ask questions, and tour the facility. Included in the team was Ray S. Jeter, Colonel, USAF, DC Chief, Air Force Medical Services Innovations; Lt. Col. Mickey T. Goodridge, Traveling Executive Officer, AF SurgeonGeneral; and was escorted from Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter by Ahmed Calvo, M.D., MPH, senior medical officer at the Health Resource Service Administration’s Office of Health Information Technology and Quality.

•2012

CareSouth Carolina was presented with the 2012 Community Health Care Leadership Award for its steadfast commitment to the health of the medically underserved populations in South Carolina by the South Carolina Primary Healthcare Association. In addition, Ann Lewis was recognized by the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association at its 2012 Annual Conference for her extraordinary leadership, commitment, vision, and mission dedication to community health centers. Finally, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has presented Ann Lewis, CEO of CareSouth Carolina, with the 2012 John Gilbert Award. The award, which recognizes longstanding excellence and leadership in community health, was presented to Ms. Lewis at the 43rd annual NACHC Community Health Institute in Orlando, Florida.

•2013

Following a rigorous nationwide review process, CareSouth Carolina was selected as an exemplary model of workforce innovation for a new project: The Primary Care Team: Learning from Effective Ambulatory Practices (The LEAP Project). The LEAP Project is a joint initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation at Group Health Research Institute.

•2014

CareSouth Carolina was one of only four primary care practices highlighted in the Behavioral Health Integration Implementation Guide, a suite of materials designed to help primary care practices integrate behavioral health.

•2015

CareSouth Carolina rolled out their ROADS Mobile Unit with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The ROADS (Reach Out and Delivering Services) team will follow the success of the Miles of Smiles Dental Program, which has been highly successful in the school setting. CSC was named an accredited diabetes education program by the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), a National Accredited Organization(NAO) certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This will allow the people with Diabetes in and around Darlington County increased access to high-quality diabetes education services.

•2016

CareSouth Carolina announces that its Cheraw office is moving to a more prominent location, at 715 South Doctors Drive Suite E. CareSouth Carolina hosts a ribbon cutting for its newest CSC Community Pharmacy in Bishopville. The organization was recertified as a Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH). SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy awarded CareSouth Carolina its Champion for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Award for setting up a teen-friendly environment and providing teen services.

•2017

CareSouth Carolina and the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control break ground on a new joint state-of-the-art facility in Dillon. In addition, CareSouth Carolina breaks ground on the McColl Health & Wellness Center. In Cheraw, CareSouth Carolina begins seeing patients at a larger office (715 South Doctors Drive, Suite E).

•2018

The Joint Commission Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation highlights CareSouth Carolina in its “Spotlight on Success.” In addition, CareSouth Carolina announced its new CSC Community Pharmacy, set to open in 2019.CareSouth Carolina was recognized with a 2018 Quality Improvement Award by the Health Resources and Services Administration(HRSA) for being a Health Center Quality Leader. CareSouthc Carolina reaches NACHC Advocacy Center for Excellence BronzeStatus, becoming just the third CHC in South Carolina to achieve this illustrious distinction. CareSouth Carolina and Care Innovations were also No. 1 in the state for viral suppression. In addition, CareSouth Carolina has broken ground on a new Chesterfield facility, which will open in 2021.

•2019

CareSouth Carolina opens the doors of its newest facility in McColl in June. The McColl Health & Wellness Center has 28,992 square feet and provides the same comprehensive healthcare services for the entire family. In addition, CareSouth Carolina cuts the ribbon for its Bishopville PEBA office, which provided services for public employees nationwide.CareSouth Carolina also expands with a dedicated pediatric dentist office in Bishopville. CareSouth Carolina also announces the intention of increasing its administrative offices. A resolution was presented during a CSC Board Meeting, and an agreement was signed to allow CareSouth Carolina to move into the vacant St.David’s Academy building. CareSouth Carolina also celebrates the opening of a new CSC Community Pharmacy in Society Hill. In the same timeframe, CareSouth Carolina celebrates with a mortgage burning at its Rosa Lee Gerald Center in Society Hill.

•2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic begins, CareSouth Carolina quickly takes action. The organization administered a plan in place to testing around the community. Partnering with SC-DHEC, CareSouth Carolina holds multiple weekly testing events at locations throughout its five-county service area. In total, CareSouthCarolina administered more than 71,000 tests.

As CareSouth Carolina deals with the pandemic, the organization ramps up Telehealth services, which still allows patients with both medical and behavioral services to have access to care. CareSouth Carolina was chosen as one of 20 national pilot sites for the NACHC ‘Leading Change’ project in December. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CareSouth Carolina celebrates its 40th anniversary serving in the community. CareSouth Carolina also mourned the loss of Charles Love Jr. Charles's generosity, compassion, and love for Pee Dee, Marlboro County. His beloved McColl will be a far-reaching legacy. For CareSouth Carolina, the beautiful building he gifted, as President of the Love Family Foundation, to us in McColl will be a lasting memorial to that love. CareSouth Carolina’s new Hartsville Community Pharmacy opens.

•2021

CareSouth Carolina was named the recipient of the 2021 Community Health Center of the Year Award by the South Carolina Primary Healthcare Association (SCPHCA)—CareSouth Carolina opens its newest state-of-the-art facility, including a CSC Community Pharmacy at 204 Perry Wiley Way. CareSouth Carolina celebrates the milestone of more than 30,000 COVID-19 vaccines administered. In total, the organization administered more than 40,705 vaccines. As the pandemic continues, CareSouth Carolina’s Hartsville Suite B team– led by Jennifer Lynch, FNP-C–begins administering life-saving Monoclonal Antibody Treatment. People traveled from all over the state and nation to receive this treatment at the Hartsville office. In total, the team administered more than 12,000 treatments.

CareSouth Carolina’s community outreach team was named the Community Health Worker Group of the Year by the South Carolina Community Health Worker Association, and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) named CareSouth Carolina as the recipient of the agency’s Community Hero award for going above and beyond to bring lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines to rural communities.

In addition, CSC announced the closure of CSC Hunt’s Family Practice office at 106 Hospital Square in Bishopville. Dr. Leon Hunt officially retired after 59 years of service in Lee County.

•2022

CareSouth Carolina and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate their new combined location, which opened at 1016 Old Latta Highway. The new 18,640-square-foot facility replaces the previous DHEC County Health Department and CareSouth Carolina locations.

Longtime CareSouth Carolina provider Tim Brown was tragically killed, but his legacy lives on through the Tim Brown Memorial Scholarship, which was started in 2022. CareSouth Carolina also broke ground on its all-new Cheraw facility and cut the ribbon on its Hartsville Pharmacy. The organization also hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its first Community Resource Center and Food Bank.

•2023

CareSouth Carolina CEO Ann Lewis was re-elected as the Chairperson for the SCPHCA. In addition, CareSouth Carolina launched its Community Health Fair, an event tailored to address the community's needs, beginning in Dillon.CareSouth Carolina opened its full-service CSC Community Pharmacy in its new state-of-the-art Dillon facility. In Hartsville, CareSouth Carolina– helmed by Jennifer Lynch, FNP-C, opens CareFusion, a world-class IV Therapy Program. The Tim Brown Memorial Scholarship raises over $15,000 in its first year. CareSouth Carolina was recognized as a Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) Champion for their outstanding commitment, achievements, and innovations in addressing substance use disorder. 

•2024

On February 26, CareSouth Carolina opened a state-of-the-art facility in Cheraw. This new facility allows the organization to quadruple its space and provide much-needed access to service in the Cheraw area. In addition, Dr. Douglas Cunningham joined CareSouth Carolina’s team to offer podiatric services in the facility.

CareSouth Carolina announced the launch of its latest mobile unit, designed to bolster the reach and impact of its ROADS initiative (Reaching Out and Delivering Services). 

CareSouth Carolina was honored as the recipient of the Healthcare Innovation Award at the Foundation ForCommunity Impact and Health Equity Inaugural Impact Awards Gala. The organization also provided more than $149.5 million in economic impact to the community. In July of that year, CareSouth Carolina CEO Ann Lewis was recognized as one of the honorees at the prestigious Mary Dean Brewer Women of Distinction Awards. 

As the CareFusion program in Hartsville continued to grow, Jennifer Lynch, FNP-C and her team became one of the first in the nation to administer infusions of the drug Kisunla, a treatment aimed at slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, CareSouth Carolina opened its new state-of-the-art facility in the refurbished St. David's building in Society Hill, which serves as administrative offices, freeing up space in other CareSouth Carolina locations to enhance patient experience efficiency. 

The boardroom was unveiled as the Mary J. Garvin Executive Boardroom in response to her remarkable contributions to CareSouth Carolina, including being a dedicated board member for over 40 years. 

CareSouth Carolina achieved "Gold+ Status" for its work in improving blood pressure (BP) control rates and reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke by improving high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes management by the American Heart Association and American Medical Association.