MUSC Trustees Considering New West Ashley Health Care Facility

Contact: Heather Woolwine
843-792-7669
woolwinh@musc.edu 

April 8, 2016

CHARLESTON, SC – The MUSC Board of Trustees held its regular, scheduled meetings April 7-8. The board voted to approve a $2.8 million, five-acre land purchase for a new health care facility near West Ashley High School and the intersection of Bees Ferry Road and Glenn McConnell Parkway. This purchase will complement the 5.6 acres MUSC already owns nearby. This is part of MUSC’s ongoing investment in community and patient-centered care, which includes 19 primary care facilities throughout the tri-county area.

The board also approved an MUSC administrative request to submit grievance policy changes to the state of South Carolina for approval. After weekly meetings among MUSC team members who represented human resources, diversity and inclusion, legal and administration, and consideration of issues raised by community representatives, MUSC officials will be requesting that the state approve a number of changes to the Medical University Hospital Authority (MUHA) grievance policy, including:

• MUHA grievance panels consist of five individuals instead of three.
• Employees can nominate themselves or others for consideration as members of the grievance committee. Additional training on the process and policy will also be provided.
• Any staff member may bring representation from human resources, compliance or the diversity office for any grievance policy meetings. Any staff member may also bring legal representation at their own cost.
• MUHA employees be allowed to appeal to the MUSC president.

“I am pleased to see the board’s response to the diversity advisory committee’s recommendations to improve the governance of how grievances are handled, particularly with the hospital workers,” said South Carolina Senator Marlon Kimpson. “Today’s actions are a meaningful and productive start. I applaud all of the community leaders for working together with the board on this meaningful change.”

Presentations and Information

Some additional meeting presentation highlights from MUSC faculty and staff include:

• MUSC continues to make large gains in patient safety, including new UV light and cleaning procedures for patient care areas and rooms and the incorporation of MUSC patients in “safety rounds” with MUSC clinicians.
• The MUSC Friedman Center for Eating Disorders is opening soon and will be the only comprehensive outpatient eating disorders clinic in the Tri-county area.
• MUSC has the only lifespan comprehensive sickle cell disease clinic in the country, and Julie Kanter, M.D., director of that clinic and sickle cell research, has positioned MUSC as a national model for the treatment of sickle cell disease with this clinic and efforts to expand sickle cell disease treatment through telehealth and a hub-and-spoke model of sickle cell disease clinics around the state.
• The fundraising effort for the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital has met 65 percent of its $125 million goal, approximately $82 million.

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates over 3,100 students in six colleges and trains 950+ residents and fellows across its health system. MUSC leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health and research funding. For information on our academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. In 2024, for the 10th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $7.1 billion. The 31,000 MUSC members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, contract employees, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.