PhD. Charles Alvin Jones, a retired family physician who has served the people of Huntsville for more than 20 years, received the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Ashbell Smith Distinguished Alumni Award from the John Seeley School of Medicine. The award recognizes “distinguished service to the medical community and to humanity”.
PhD. Alvin Jones was born in rural Polk County, Texas. As a teenager, he helped his mother during her illness and was inspired to become a doctor. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and began medical school at the University of Texas Medical School in 1961. Shortly after his studies, Hurricane Kara hit the island. As a young medical student, he realized that in addition to treating his patients, his role included serving their pain and suffering.
After graduating from UTMB with AOA honors in 1965, Dr. Jones completed a family medicine internship at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital. In 1966, he served in the U.S. Army at Fort Lewis, Washington. He and his wife Anna then settled in Huntsville, where Dr. Jones was a respected family physician for 20 years.
He led the construction of Huntsville Memorial Hospital and served as chief of staff. PhD. Jones was also a board member of the Walker County Health District for 12 years and led a movement to provide care to needy citizens. During this time, he received the Rotary Club’s Paul Harris Leadership Award for his work on polio eradication worldwide.
In 1988, his focus shifted to residency training and he joined the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He established the Family Medicine Resident Program to Serve Rural Patients and was named the first Rural Affairs Director. PhD. Jones is a two-time recipient of the Rural Texas Physician of the Year award, serves as president of the Texas Rural Health Association, has earned accolades for smoking cessation advocacy, and was named president of the Center for Rural Health Initiatives by Governor George W. Bush.
UTMB recruits Ph.D. Jones participated in the Beaumont/Port Arthur residency program, where he later became program director. In 2001, he transferred to Conroe to direct outpatient clinical training. His efforts ensured the Conroe residency program became a federally qualified health center, and the Lone Star Community Health Center was born. The program now trains 30 residents and provides care to the most vulnerable in Montgomery County.
He and Anna moved back to Huntsville, where he retired in 2006. Jones is passionate about providing spiritual guidance to inmates in the Gorey Unit, where he has volunteered for over 10 years. He is an active deacon of First Baptist Church in Huntsville. He and Anna enjoy spending time with their three children and four grandchildren.