An award-winning South Carolina Lowcountry health care provider is retiring after nearly five decades of serving patients in the Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton County areas.
Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services announced last week that "After 48 wonderful years as a Physician Assistant, Harold “Buck” Harvey, PA-C, has made the decision to retire from a career he describes as one of the greatest honors of his life."
Harvey served most of his career at the Beaufort Memorial Harrison Peeples Health Care Center in Varnville and was part of the transition in October 2025 into the Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services (BJHCHS) network.
In a BJHCHS announcement last week, Harvey said that, throughout his career, he had the
privilege of caring for many patients and families and is "deeply grateful for the trust placed in him, the relationships and memories formed over the years, and the kindness, encouragement, friendship, and support shown to him throughout Hampton County and the surrounding areas."
“Thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives and for allowing me to serve you and your families. It has truly been an honor and a privilege, said Harvey, who added that he is leaving his career with a grateful heart and countless memories of the people who have touched his life.
Harvey also thanked and credited his mentors, including the late Dr. Harrison Peeples and Dr. Neal Shealy, as well as his many colleagues at BJHCHS, Harrison Peeples, and Hampton Regional Medical Center.
Harvey an award-winning health care provider
In October 2017, Harvey, along with Dr. Neal Shealy, both with Harrison Peeples Health Care Center at the time, were jointly presented the South Carolina Office of Rural Health (SCORH) 2017 Pioneer of the Year Award.
"The Pioneer Award is presented to a provider or providers who have contributed significantly to the delivery of primary health care in a rural environment," said SCORH CEO Graham Adams, PhD, at the time. "Dr. Shealy and Mr. Harvey have been the backbone for primary care in the Hampton County area for more than 25 years."
The Pioneer Award can best be described as not just a lifetime achievement award, but a lifetime devotion award.
"The Pioneer Award is given to someone who has committed their life to providing health care to a rural population, and that is what we have done," Harvey said. "Dr. Shealy and I have been providing rural care for more than 38 years. Jointly, we have provided more than 75 years of rural health care, with the last 26 years together here in Hampton County."
A Hampton County native, Harvey obtained a Bachelor of Health Science from the Medical University of South Carolina and later obtained a Master of Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska. He began his health care career in the 1970s as a medical lab technician working with Lowcountry rural hospitals and has been a practicing Physician Assistant in Hampton County since 1979. After Harvey completed his PA training, he began working in Estill under the preceptorship of Dr. Harrison Peeples. He worked with Dr. Peeples from 1979 until Dr. Peeples' retirement in 1991 and then worked with Dr. Shealy at the Harrison Peeples Health Care Center.
As Executive Director of the Harrison Peeples center, Harvey helped integrate inter-professional team-based care and healthcare research into quality rural healthcare. Like his mentor, Dr. Peeples, he was a continuous advocate of the "grow your own" pipeline for rural primary care and has precepted countless students from MUSC's Medical and Physician Assistant schools.
Harvey has served on numerous local and state boards over the years, including the S.C. Rural Health Association, the Hampton County Rural Health Foundation and the Physician Assistant Committee of the Board of Medical Examiners. Active beyond his career circles, he served four terms on the Hampton County Council and served on the boards of the Lowcountry Council of Governments and the SouthernCarolina Alliance. He currently serves on the board of directors at SCORH and as Executive Director of the Lowcountry Rural Health Education Consortium. Harvey is a Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and a long-standing member of the S.C. Academy of Physician Assistants.
Harvey is a member of Hampton First Baptist Church and enjoys being part of a Sunday school teaching foursome and other church activities. He enjoys beekeeping, genealogy, local history, woodworking, hunting and the back roads of South Carolina. He and his wife, Phyllis, have one daughter, Renee, and three grandchildren, Chaney, Chase and William.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Award-winning Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton area health care provider retires
