“ The day I opened my office , we were inundated with patients because they had no place to go and most of the patients were from the volume of the charity hospital ,” he said .
He also picked up many of Box ’ s patients when he retired .
Today , his patients come from all walks of life , all socio-economic backgrounds , all ethnicities .
“ On any given day you can see anything and anybody in this office ,” he said . “ You see people with rebel flags and you see guys with their pants hanging down and you see some physician ’ s wife ,” Purvis said . “ At one point in time , we had a run of patients who were Vietnamese . We had some of the Naval Air Station pilots who were Spanish and here training . And all of that is mixed in this office … and people got along and it was good .”
Initially , Purvis delivered all of the babies of the clinic ’ s patients himself because he had no one to cover him . Less than a decade later , he recognized he could not keep doing that because his patient load was growing too fast .
“ I said either I am going to have to leave or I am going to have to have somebody to help me ,” he told his office manager Ben Box .
So they sent nurse Felecia Brown to school to become a midwife . She became certified in 2002 and , since then , has helped to take a large load off of Purvis .
To date , the clinic has delivered around 16,000 babies , which Purvis said would not have been possible without all of the clinic ’ s staff and the nurses at the hospital .
“ It is a collaborative process . You can ’ t do all of this by yourself . I can ’ t see all of these people without Ben and Felecia and the nurses on the floor . You just can ’ t do it . Everybody cooperates , including the patients .”
Purvis , whose own children are now grown , said the OB life is a difficult path to choose for a physician because it takes a commitment to the patients and takes a lot of time away from family .
“ It pretty much takes your whole life . It really does . If you deliver that many babies , that is almost one or
It was an eye-opening experience . I never thought Mississippi would be this welcoming but everybody saw this as an opportunity for things to change .
Dr . Ronnye Purvis on staying in Meridian
two a day . It is not like you can take long vacations ,” he said .
When he is not delivering babies , Purvis enjoys reading , listening to music and traveling . He used to do a lot of running before he injured his back , and has taken part in numerous
Dr . Ronnye Purvis delivered his first babies at Anderson Regional Medical Center after moving to Meridian , is still delivering babies at the hospital more than three decades later .
races , including the Nashville , Chicago , New York and Marine Corps marathons . He also collects art .
“ I have collected art for at least 20 years now ,” he said . “ I like Caribbean art . I like the colors , the history from it . It ’ s so vibrant , and it ’ s alive and welcoming . It just makes you feel good .”
He also has been actively involved in the community over the years . He has been a supporter of the Boys & Girls Club and an Adopt-A-School sponsor . He has funded scholarships at Meridian Community College , mentored youth and coached youth sports . He served on Meridian Community College ’ s board of trustees for 25 years .
Purvis said he has enjoyed his years in Meridian and the opportunities it has afforded him , including providing his parents with their first real home before they passed way .
“ This is my home . I have been here half of my life ,” he said . “ I have felt more welcoming here in Meridian than I felt living in Milwaukee or Chicago .”
Purvis is starting to think about life after the delivery room . He is one of the last practicing OB / GYN physicians from when he first opened his clinic who is still delivering babies .
Although he has made no plans yet or written a date on a calendar , he does think about things he would like to do when he has more free time . One of those things is traveling longer distances , a luxury he has never had the time to enjoy in the past .
“ I have been to every little island in the Caribbean . I ’ ve done that ,” he said . “ Our plan before the pandemic was to go to Egypt , so I definitely want to go to Egypt . My roots are in Africa , so I want to go to South Africa and I want to go to West Africa , especially Ghana , because of our history .”
But until that time comes , he plans to continue delivering Meridian ’ s babies .
“ It is the only thing I know how to do . That ’ s the reason I don ’ t have a hobby because I don ’ t know how to do anything else but this ,” Purvis laughed . “ This is all I know .” www . meridianstar . com
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