35 Years of Welvista: A Legacy of Hope, Health and Service

For 35 years, Welvista has helped remove barriers to healthcare for South Carolinians who might otherwise go without essential medications or dental care. What began as one physician’s vision has grown into a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing wellness among South Carolina’s most vulnerable residents.

A Vision for Better Healthcare Access

Welvista’s story began in 1991, when Dr. Bartolo Mariano Barone recognized a serious gap in the healthcare system. Many working South Carolinians earned too much to qualify for Medicaid and couldn’t afford health Insurance. Without access to regular medical care, these individuals often relied on hospital emergency rooms when they became sick.

Dr. Barone envisioned a program that would connect uninsured residents with physicians, medications and other healthcare services at no cost.

That vision began taking shape in 1993 through the Palmetto Project who, “launched Commun-I-Care to ensure no South Carolinian would go without medical care simply because they lacked insurance.” Startup funding came from BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust.  Through the outreach efforts of Dr. Barone and Ken Trogdon of the Palmetto Project, 125 volunteer physicians agreed to provide free care to patients in their offices. Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson also joined the effort by donating medications for patients in need. During its first year, more than 300 patients received free medications.

Growing into an Independent Organization

As Commun-I-Care continued to grow, so did its impact. More healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and community partners joined the effort, expanding access to care for uninsured South Carolinians. The organization also became one of the first programs in the country to offer diabetic care at this level.

In 1997, Commun-I-Care separated from the Palmetto Project and became an independent 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. Under Dr. Barone’s leadership, the organization entered a new chapter, earning recognition as a national model for improving healthcare access for medically underserved populations.

Expanding Services to Pediatric Dentistry

Commun-I-Care’s mission expanded again in 1998 with the launch of the organization’s first mobile pediatric dental program in Greenville. That program provided oral healthcare to children from low-income families and operated on the weekends through a volunteer-based model.

Building on those early efforts, Commun-I-Care was invited by Inez Tennenbaum, Superintendent of Education to develop a school-base dental program in Allendale County. An initial screening found that 76% of the 1,996 children examined had rampant dental decay, highlighting a significant unmet need for oral healthcare services. In August 2001, Smiles for a Lifetime opened its doors on public school property in Allendale County, bringing dental care directly to students at no cost to their families.

Becoming Welvista

As the organization’s programs and reach continued to grow, its identity evolved as well. In 2008, Commun-I-Care officially changed its name to Welvista. By that time, what had begun as a volunteer-driven physician network had evolved into two distinct programs addressing critical healthcare needs across South Carolina: a medication assistance program serving uninsured residents and Smiles for a Lifetime, a school-based dental program serving children in rural communities.

The new name reflected an organization that was no longer defined by a single service, but by a growing commitment to improving healthcare access for South Carolinians.

In the years that followed, those two programs would become the foundation of Welvista’s work. The medication assistance program expanded access to prescription medications, strengthened patient support services, and grew into the comprehensive mail-order pharmacy operation know today as the Medication Assistance Pharmacy (MAP). At the same time, Smiles for a Lifetime (SMILES) continued to expand its reach, bringing preventative and restorative dental care directly to children in underserved communities across the state.

Continuing the Mission Today

Today, Welvista provides free prescription medications and school-based dental care to uninsured and underserved South Carolinians through its Medication Assistance Pharmacy (MAP) and Smiles for a Lifetime (SMILES) programs.

The Medication Assistance Pharmacy (MAP) provides eligible uninsured South Carolina residents with prescription medications that are filled and mailed to their homes at no cost. The pharmacy offers more than 300 name brand and generic medications that treat a wide range of acute and chronic health conditions. Serving more than19,000 patients each and filling over 300,000 prescriptions each year.

Smiles for a Lifetime (SMILES) continues to provide dental care to children in rural school districts, serving more than 4,000 students each school year and filling over 138,000 cavities since opening its doors. Together, these programs address two significant healthcare needs while helping reduce the long-term consequences of untreated medical and dental conditions.

Welvista has changed significantly since its earliest days as Commun-I-Care, but its heart has remained the same. The organization was founded on the belief that a lack of insurance or financial resources should not prevent someone from receiving essential healthcare.

Thirty-five years later, we honor the visionaries, healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical partners, donors, employees, and community partners who helped build this organization. Most importantly, we celebrate the patients and families who strength and trust continue to inspire our work.

As we look to the future, we remain committed to offering hope, improving health outcomes and creating a stronger, healthier South Carolina, one prescription and one smile at a time.