MUSC Board Seeks Approval for Additional Hospital, Other Projects

Contact: Sheila Champlin
843-792-2691
champlin@musc.edu

Dec. 8, 2017

CHARLESTON, SC – The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Medical University Hospital Authority (MUHA) Board of Trustees held their regular scheduled meeting, receiving a series of positive reports on the organization’s overall financial position, fund-raising initiatives, clinical operations, advances in diversity and inclusion efforts, and external audit for fiscal year 2017. The board also voted to support filing a certificate of need (CON) with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for the construction of a 128-bed hospital. DHEC must issue a CON before certain types of health care acquisitions, expansions and creation of new facilities are allowed. Estimated cost for the new hospital is $325 million.

“MUSC is committed to building an integrated health care system with the depth and breadth to lead health innovation for the lives we touch,” said MUSC President David J. Cole, M.D., FACS. “By adding another hospital to the MUSC Health system, we will establish a natural, complementary component to our tertiary, quaternary hospital facility on the peninsula, where we care for the sickest patients and provide the most intensive care.”

“The state health plan has clearly identified the need for 147 additional beds to serve the Charleston area based on current hospital occupancy and fill rates,” said Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., MUSC Health CEO and vice president for Health Affairs, University. “As our community expands, its needs are steadily increasing for our full range of health care services. This new hospital will serve to meet many of those growing health care demands, delivering our consistent, high quality and compassionate care.”

“As the state’s only public, academic health science center, MUSC is unlike any other health care organization in South Carolina,” said Donald R. Johnson II, M.D., chairman of the MUSC Board of Trustees. “This board works in concert with the administration to meet not only the needs of today’s patients and families, but also to constantly envision ways to improve health care as we go forward. This new hospital represents a direct response to the changes and needs of our community. It will make the best quality care even more convenient to obtain in the future,” Johnson said.

Additional information about the new, proposed 128-bed hospital will be made available when appropriate, as details are finalized.

The board also reviewed and voted to approve:

Authorization for the MUSC Health system to seek approval from the State Fiscal Accountability Authority to borrow up to $54.4 million for the following projects:
- $28 million to purchase land and build a Consolidated Service Center, including a sterile processing facility, in the North Charleston area. The center is necessary to support the new MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital and the MUSC pediatric ambulatory campus in North Charleston.
- $16.4 million for leaseholder improvements for the West Ashley musculoskeletal institute.
- $10 million for the land acquisition needed to construct the 128-bed hospital in the tri-county area.
An estimated $800,000 in hallway corridor renovations to the Clinical Sciences Building (CSB), which when completed, will update the structure.
The creation of a new High Risk Infectious Disease (HRID) unit in the CSB, a specialized medical unit to allow for isolation treatment for highly infectious diseases. The unit will be constructed in vacated space with a $2.9 million ASPER grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is a leader in preparing the nation and its communities to respond to and recover from public health and medical disasters and emergencies. This HRID unit will be one of a few specialized units in the country, and the only one in South Carolina, to address such infectious diseases as Ebola and smallpox. When not in active use for patients, the space can be used for mock training to prepare providers to handle high risk cases.

The trustees also received news that on Wednesday, Dec. 6, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce named MUSC recipient of the 2017 Excellence in Workplace Diversity Award in the category for medium and large businesses. The chamber describes the program as an opportunity for community leaders to recognize the accomplishments of South Carolina companies that are leading the way in developing and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives. The award was presented during the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s 38th Annual Summit.

In recognition of engagement in graduate medical education, the board confirmed support for the MUSC Institutional Commitment to Graduate Medical Education, a statement that was included in the board agenda packet. The document reads, in part:

“Medical education is a major component of the mission of the Medical University of South Carolina, the Medical University Hospital Authority and the College of Medicine. The Board of Trustees, the President of MUSC and the administrators, faculty and staff are committed to provide graduate medical education using the financial, educational and personnel resources necessary to ensure the highest quality programs… We pledge to emphasize coordinated care with community physicians and to take advantage of cooperative opportunities to work with other institutions to fulfill mutual educational objectives.

“We commit ourselves to provide graduate medical education programs that enable physicians in training to develop personal, clinical and professional competence under the guidance and supervision of the faculty and staff… As a major research institution, MUSC will encourage residents to participate in a wide range of scholarly activities including research and publications.”

As the largest medical school in South Carolina, the MUSC College of Medicine educates and trains the majority of the physicians in the state and region. This fall MUSC will graduate some 171 students who are earning degrees from the colleges of Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine and Nursing.

The MUSC/MUHA Board of Trustees serves as separate bodies to govern the university and hospital, holding two days of committee and board meetings six times a year.

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state's only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy – and trains more than 900 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $300 million in research funds in fiscal year 2023, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding. Learn more about our academic programs.

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. Patient care is provided at 16 hospitals (includes owned or governing interest), with approximately 2,700 beds and four additional hospital locations in development, more than 350 telehealth sites and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2023, for the ninth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the Number 1 hospital in South Carolina. Learn more about our patient services.

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $5.9 billion. The nearly 26,000 MUSC family members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.