MUSC and Tribe513 form collaboration to expand access and patient care coordination in the Upstate

CHARLESTON, S.C. (July 30, 2020) – MUSC Health and Tribe513 have announced an agreement to pursue a collaboration in the Upstate of South Carolina. The two-part goal of the relationship is to expand access and patient care coordination in the region, and, concurrently, to develop new and enhance existing training and education programs for medical providers and students. The organizations signed a letter of intent in March and have been working toward finalizing the agreement. 

“As the state’s only comprehensive academic health sciences center, MUSC is charged with serving the health care needs of the entire state,” said Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., CEO of MUSC Health and vice president for Health Affairs, University. “To fulfill our statewide mission, we are excited at the prospect of building new and novel connections like this Tribe513 relationship, which will enhance our ability to train South Carolina’s future care providers and, thereby, deliver the highest quality care available to more patients and families in the Upstate.”

Founded in 2006, Tribe513 is an independent medical practice serving the Upstate through its more than 350 team members, 12 practice locations and five divisions – Parkside Pediatrics, Brio Internal Medicine, Brio Aesthetics, Parkside OB-GYN and the Breastfeeding Center of Greenville. Tribe513 will remain a privately owned practice and continue to provide the unique faith-based, people-centered approach that it is widely recognized for offering to patients in the region. Additionally, existing relationships will continue between Tribe513 and the high-quality hospitals and health care facilities they currently utilize for patient resources.

“What brought Tribe513 and MUSC together is a genuine openness to new ideas and collaborative ways to innovate health care in the Upstate. Most importantly, we are united by a shared commitment to loving and serving our teams, providers, patients and our communities,” said Tribe513 CEO David Martin. “Together, we can have a greater impact than either of us could have on our own. We are excited to be working hand in hand with MUSC in an effort to offer local physicians more freedom in how they practice, to increase access to care for patients, and to provide better connectivity to specialty care, clinical trials, medical research and education.”

For more than two decades, MUSC has worked closely with education and affiliate partners in the Upstate. 

“Now more than ever, in the midst of this global pandemic, MUSC must be forward thinking and acting,” said MUSC President David J. Cole, M.D., FACS. “Aligning with Tribe513 presents opportunities to expand residency training positions and keep more medical school graduates in South Carolina, which in the long term will broaden access to specialists for Upstate patients.”

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About Tribe513

In 2006, three physicians decided to start an independent pediatric group, Parkside Pediatrics, which soon became the standard for pediatric care around the Upstate. In 2015, they opened the first comprehensive lactation support facility for new mothers in the Upstate, the Breastfeeding Center of Greenville (BFC). The success of Parkside and BFC laid the groundwork for partnering with a successful independent internal medicine practice, BRIO Internal Medicine, later that same year. These practices share the same faith-based and team-centric approach to business.

With strong growth and community support, the partners united under a collective corporate banner now known as Tribe513. The newest member of the Tribe513 family is Parkside OB-GYN, which serves expectant mothers and ongoing women’s health.

Tribe513 currently employs 60 providers and more than 350 team members in 12 locations across the Upstate. The areas of service include pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, behavioral health, nutrition, aesthetics, breastfeeding education and support, and clinical research. The Tribe513 foundation of success is based on dedicated leadership and team members, intentional growth and collaboration, and never losing faith in God and the focus on loving and serving others. Learn more about Tribe513, our practices, and how we serve others at www.tribe513.org. 

About MUSC Health

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South, as well as the state’s only integrated, academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state’s leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2019, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $284 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available, while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians’ practice plan, and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2020, for the sixth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care.