Headshot of male physician wearing white coat

Physician Assistant finds meaning by taking care of others

CB Jones has spent more than 50 years making a world of difference.

The certified physician assistant didn’t know who was going to walk through the door most of the time, but whether it was a friend, neighbor or simply a patient he was meeting for the first time, CB wanted to make sure that they were cared for.

The day he first retired from Ashe Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department, CB was treating a patient who recognized him and told him how he had delivered the patient’s son 43 years ago. It’s those full-circle moments that CB cherishes the most.

“I’ve been fortunate to have changed a lot of lives, hopefully in a good way,” CB says. “I’ve saved some lives that are hard to explain in words, but there have also been many happy times. It’s been a very rewarding career. I’ve been able to walk through the world and make a positive difference.”

A native of Ashe County, CB joined the Air Force Medical Corps during the Vietnam Era to create more opportunity for his family. CB narrowly missed being sent to Vietnam after his unit was deployed two days after he came off worldwide alert. Following the 1968 Pueblo Crisis during which the USS Pueblo, an unarmed US Navy intelligence vessel, was captured by North Korea, CB was activated to go to Korea where he spent 13 months overseas.

It was during his time in the Air Force Medical Corps that CB learned the value of maturity and responsibility.
“I developed a passion for taking care of people and helping them,” CB says.

After spending four years in the Air Force Medical Corps, CB spent two years in the reserves while earning a Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force/University of Maryland. He then went on to the Wake Forest University School of Medicine where he enrolled in a physician assistant program designed to train combat medics that were coming back from overseas. The program was founded by Duke University in the mid-1960s and expanded to Wake Forest a few years later.

“I was married and had a child at the time, so that was the way to go,” CB says. “I was lucky enough to get into the program.”

At the time, Duke and Wake Forest were the only two schools in North Carolina to offer the program at the time. CB was part of the third class to graduate from Wake Forest’s program.

After finishing his degree in physician assistant studies, CB worked in the emergency department at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem for a year before returning home to Ashe County. CB joined the team at Ashe Memorial Hospital in August 1974, specializing in emergency medicine. At the time, CB was the first physician assistant in North Carolina to staff an emergency department.

In addition to his role in the emergency department, CB also spent 25 years as a medical examiner and delivered babies for the Health Department. CB briefly retired from the emergency department in November 2018 after 44 years before deciding to return to work. He joined the team at Mount Jefferson Family Medicine in January 2021 and continues to provide primary care to patients three days a week.

“Mount Jefferson Family Medicine needed help, and I was bored at home,” CB says. “I enjoy it. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be here.”

When he’s not busy working, CB enjoys spending time with his wife Kina, a registered nurse in the emergency department, and their three children and seven grandchildren. He also enjoys traveling and camping in his RV, horseback riding and working outside on his farm.