MUSC board votes to approve request for two certificates of need, receives mid-year reports

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Feb. 12, 2021) – Recently, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Medical University Hospital Authority (MUHA) Board of Trustees met for their regularly scheduled combined committee sessions and board meeting. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many attended the meeting via video conference. Those who gathered in person in the MUSC boardroom observed appropriate safety protocols, including wearing masks and social distancing. In addition to updates on its education, research and clinical care operations, the board received a primer on how the mRNA vaccine works, as well as information on how MUSC Health is administering the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and how the health system is working to reduce vaccine hesitancy.    

“During this pandemic, our team focus remains to serve communities across the state with engagement on multiple levels, including getting vaccines into arms, providing virus testing, delivery of the newest, most effective therapies to treat COVID-19 patients, and continuing education about safety and prevention,” said David J. Cole, M.D., FACS, MUSC president. “We are also working at a grassroots level to plan and execute vaccine distribution to at-risk and rural communities as the limited vaccine supply permits,” Cole said. 

“To date, we have received 83,850 vaccines and administered 85,407 vaccinations,” said Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., MUSC Health CEO and vice president for Health Affairs, University. “The nearly 102% doses administered includes accounting for the extra doses found per vial.” Cawley observed, “This week has been particularly challenging due to last-minute supply issues that are out of our control, forcing us to move and reschedule vaccine appointments. Nevertheless, MUSC continues to vaccinate as many people as we can as fast as possible.”

Despite the enduring challenges of the pandemic, MUSC continues to transform and grow. The board voted to support filing two certificates of need (CON) with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for the deployment of a linear accelerator in Lancaster County and a surgical robot for MUSC Health, Lancaster Medical Center. DHEC must issue a CON before certain types of health care acquisitions, expansions and creation of new facilities are allowed. A linear accelerator is commonly used by a radiation therapist to deliver external beam radiation treatments to cancer patients. A surgical robot serves to extend the physical capabilities of surgeons, adding the most advanced and refined technology at the fingertips of surgeons to benefit patients.   

“It is a tremendous honor to announce the establishment of the Dr. James B. Edwards Endowed Chair in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the College of Dental Medicine,” said James Lemon, DMD, chairman of the MUSC/MUHA board. “As President of MUSC, Dr. Edwards worked tirelessly with his wife, Mrs. Ann Edwards, to make MUSC second to none in terms of quality care, instruction and research across all colleges. However, as a dentist himself, the College of Dental Medicine held a special place in Dr. Edwards’ heart. He and his wife, Ann, who is with us virtually today, are responsible for securing the funding for this endowed chair, which included resources from Conoco-Philips, Waste Management and Mr. Peter Lawson-Johnston II.”

Dr. Lemon continued, “Ann, on behalf of the MUSC Board of Trustees and senior leadership, thank you for your sustained support and contributions to the Medical University of South Carolina over the years. Today, we honor Dr. Edwards and celebrate this achievement in his honor. Thank you both for making the first endowed chair in the College of Dental Medicine possible. The Dr. James B. Edwards Endowed Chair in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery will enhance the quality of clinical care and research in this area of expertise for years to come.” 

The board voted to appoint Martin Steed, DDS, FACS, to the James B. Edwards, DMD, Endowed Chair in Oral Surgery, effective March 1. Steed is a professor and chair in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and associate dean for Hospital Affairs in the College of Dental Medicine. 

The board also reviewed and endorsed the proposed new enterprise strategy – OneMUSC. The focus of the strategy is to empower and propel team members to achieve greater innovation, impact and influence over the next five-year period. One such enterprise-wide initiative, the MUSC Workday Implementation, was shared with the trustees. 

Workday is a state-of-the-art platform that will transform, integrate and standardize MUSC business processes across finance, human capital and supply chain across all three major areas of MUSC – the university, MUSC Health and MUSC Physicians. It will consolidate some 70 different human resources, finance and payroll systems into a single core cloud-based system. In addition to simplifying workflows, Workday will also empower employees to complete human resources and payroll actions from anywhere using mobile devices.  

In other business, the 16-member MUSC/MUHA board also voted to approve the following items:

• Improve access to high quality breast imaging in the community by locating 3D mammography at the MUSC Health West Ashley clinic.  
• A capital budget request of $2.9 million for renovations at MUSC Health, Chester Medical Center.
• A lease amendment to continue providing 46,857 square feet of space to the Department of Veterans Affairs on the MUSC main campus in Charleston.
• Renewal of an 11,494 square feet lease for office space on Doughty Street in Charleston to continue providing space to support the Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Neuroscience Division, drug abuse research training, and the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute.
• Renewal of a lease for 6,414 square feet of clinical space on Hospital Drive in Charleston that supports delivery of therapeutic services, physical therapy and occupational therapy in the Mount Pleasant area.
• Execution of a new lease agreement for 4,500 square feet of clinical space on Charlotte Highway in Indian Land, which will provide sites for Lancaster pediatrics and a multispecialty clinic.
• Renewal of a lease for 4,200 square feet of clinical space on West Meeting Street in Lancaster to continue providing space for MUSC Health general surgery.
• A lease renewal for 1,143 parking spaces in the Hagood parking lot located at Fishburne Street and Hagood Avenue.  

The MUSC/MUHA Board of Trustees serves as separate bodies to govern the university and hospital, normally holding two days of committee and board meetings six times a year. For more information about the MUSC Board of Trustees, visit this page.

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About The Medical University of South Carolina

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. MUSC brought in more than $271 million in biomedical research funds in fiscal year 2020, continuing to lead the state in obtaining National Institutes of Health funding, with more than $129.9 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 325 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.