Along the Way: ‘A huge heart full of love and compassion for children’ – by Todd Deaton

Few parents who walk through the doors of the Taylors Free Medical Clinic realize it, but their kids are being treated by one of South Carolina’s finest. Those around him in pediatric medicine, however, know that he has –

‘A huge heart full of love and compassion for children’

Dr. James Hayes, pediatric oncologist and co-founder of Greenville’s Pediatric Cancer Center, was recently named Physician of the Year for Community Service by his peers in the South Carolina Medical Association. The award recognizes Dr. Hayes, a longtime member of Taylors First Baptist Church, for demonstrating the true spirit of medicine by “helping those who may otherwise fall through the cracks and miss access to good healthcare,” according to an SCMA spokesperson.

Todd Deaton

In 2005, Hayes and Russell Ashmore, an asphalt company owner who also is a member at Taylors First, teamed up to help launch the Free Medical Clinic. They had recently returned from a medical missions trip to Brazil on which the two had pondered, “Why can’t we do this back home?”

At first, Hayes dismissed the idea because of “too much red tape,” but after reading an article about people having to choose between paying for medicines or buying food, Hayes felt something must be done, and he began to pray about starting a clinic.

Modeled after another clinic in Hilton Head, which based its treatment philosophy on Matthew 25:45, the Taylors clinic opened in July 2005, seeing 10 patients on its first night. As of April 2008, a team of about eight volunteer doctors and a host of nurses, led by executive director Karen Salerno, treat almost 1,900 patients, seeing an average of 60 patients each week.

“Our average patients are not whom you might expect,” Hayes shares. “We were told that we would see the down-and-outs and drug-seekers, but our patients are some of the finest people. Many are just unfortunate victims who – through no fault of their own – have had to assume paying for healthcare. Some are older citizens or are workers at companies who recently downsized or have dropped healthcare benefits.”

Hayes’ humble demeanor can make almost anyone feel at ease and comfortable talking to him, his patients say. He attributes his compassion and concern to his dad, who became fluent in sign language in order to translate for hearing-impaired co-workers at the local furniture plant, and to his mom who often took care of elderly or sick neighbors. “I learned by their example that this is how Christians take care of others,” Hayes believes.

Hayes goes over patient records with Karen Salerno, left, executive director of the Taylors clinic, and nurses Rebecca Smith and Ashley Frish.

His community service does not stop with the clinic. Hayes has been on at least 17 mission trips – mostly to Brazil, but also to Granada and Jamaica – to conduct medical clinics and work with about 75 children at a local orphanage that is sponsored by several Baptist churches in the States. On these trips, he has personally treated as many as 500 patients in one week, as part of a Mobile Medical Missions team that treated more than 3,500 persons for various diseases, malnutrition, parasites, skin disorders and other infections.

Beginning his medical practice in the 1970s, Hayes was a pioneer in treating cancer and disorders of the blood in the Upstate, helping establish Greenville Hospital System’s Hematology/Oncology Center in 1986. Concerned for kids with cancer, whose childhoods had been “stolen away” by their illnesses and limited family resources due to high medical expenses, Hayes created a camp in the North Carolina mountains where “they can run wild, like any other kids their age,” participating in sports, swimming, crafts and campfire activities.

Now named Camp Courage because “it takes a lot of courage to face a serious illness every day,” the camp draws around 70 children, and has spawned two annual, teen weekend retreats.

Hayes, 64, retired from the children’s cancer center last year, but his motivation and mission of caring remain “because I know Jesus Christ was very practical in his love. He healed first, then he told them about himself” – along the Way.