Lovelace Family Medicine, PA was established in August 1988 by Dr. Oscar Lovelace, Jr. in honor of his grandfather, Drury Lovelace, a Prosperity dairy farmer. The office is located in the town of Prosperity, SC in Newberry County just off I-26, 30 miles west of Columbia, and 6 miles from Lake Murray. Since we opened our doors, our focus has been on providing comprehensive, preventative health care by emphasizing the physical, mental, and spiritual health of our patients.
Lovelace Family Medicine is a true full scope family practice. We care for infants, children, teens, adults, pregnant, and geriatric patients. Not only do we care of patients in the office, but also at Newberry Hospital, White Oak Manor Nursing Home, Jesse Frank Hawkins Nursing home, and SpringField Place Assisted and Independent Living. We care for multiple generations of families through all the stages of their life.
Just like Newberry County, Lovelace Family Medicine has grown over the years. Though Dr. Oscar Lovelace started out in solo practice, as of 2022 we have 6 physicians and 3 nurse practitioners.
From the very beginning, our practice has put an emphasis on teaching the caregivers of the future. Since 1988 we have taught medical students and residents from MUSC, Emory, VCOM, UVA, USC, Self Memorial, and Texas A&M. We have also taught family nurse practice students, physician assistant students, nursing students and some students who are considering medical careers. Our providers hold Clinical Assistant Professorships with the MUSC Department of Family Medicine, the University Of Virginia Department Of Family Medicine, and the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine.
In 1992 – when the only obstetrician in the county passed away, Dr. Oscar Lovelace was the only physician delivering babies in 3 counties. In order to better serve the people of this community he trained to do caesarian sections to fill this need. We believe that receiving obstetric care close to home from providers that care about you and your infant leads to better outcomes. Pregnancy care and care of infants and children remains a central focus of our practice. LFM is the only private family practice in the state to care for obstetric patients. We deliver babies at Newberry Hospital.
In 1996 we became a pilot site for the Physician’s Enhanced Plan (PEP) in partnership with SCDHEC. This program made sure that offices were available to patients and encouraged patients to call their primary care provider before presenting to the ER. It allowed emergency departments to call the primary care provider for non-urgent visits which saved the state over 1 million dollars in its first year. LFM participated in this initiative until its end in 2007.
In August of 1998, we became one of the first practices in South Carolina to take the initiative to transform from a paper medical record system to an electronic one. At this time, this technology was uncommon around the country and our practice gave several talks nationally about how we were using wifi and laptops to chart. Though electronic records are more the norm now, many medical practices relied on paper charting until the HITECH act in 2009 that mandated digital formats for medical charts.
In March of 2020, the spread of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. In one weeks time, LFM turned a portion of the office into an acute care clinic to provide testing and treatment of patients for COVID-19 during a time many medical offices were closing their doors due to lack of staff, funds, and general uncertainty of what we were dealing. We provided mobile testing across the state, held off-site testing clinics routinely, and opened a drive thru for testing as we navigated the new norm. In preparation of the COVID-19 vaccine, we purchased ultra cold freezers which allowed us to be some of the first in South Carolina with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
In January 2021 the COVID-19 vaccine was released and we hit the ground running. Over 26,000 vaccines have been given through our mass clinics, off-site clinics, drive thru, and in our office.
We strive to provide high quality, progressive care, but we are still a rural doctor’s office with a genuine concern for our patients and our community. We can care for all members of your family. If you think you have an interest in becoming a patient, please call or stop by and learn more about what we can do for you as your personal doctors. We want to be your doctors for life.
