Hospital News
Roper St. Francis, Trident Both Get Green Light: DHEC Approves Two Hospitals for Berkeley
Charleston, SC, June 26, 2009 – Berkeley County residents received welcome news today from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC-DHEC). Both Roper St. Francis Healthcare (RSFH) and Trident Regional Medical Center have been approved to build new hospitals.
“It’s an exciting day for people living and working in Berkeley County,” said David L. Dunlap, President and CEO for RSFH. “After more than 30 years without a hospital, Berkeley County will now have two hospitals that are perfectly positioned to serve the health care needs at both the southern and northern ends of the county.”
“We’d like to thank DHEC officials for their vision in recognizing the need for two hospitals in Berkeley County,” added Dunlap. “We’d also like to recognize and thank elected officials, physicians, community leaders and residents for their strong show of support for both projects. We’re looking forward to making the dream of having a hospital in Berkeley County a reality.”
Roper St. Francis will now move forward with plans to build a $113 million, 50-bed hospital at the intersection of Highways 17 Alternate and 176 at Carnes Crossroads in Goose Creek. Planning, architectural design and engineering activities will unfold over the next year to year and a half, with groundbreaking and construction to follow.
“We will be firming up our timetable for developing and building our new Berkeley Hospital over the next few weeks,” said Doug Bowling, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for RSFH.
Once complete, the 2-story, 139,000-square-foot hospital will offer the following services:
- 50 inpatient beds including 36 medical/surgical beds, 8 obstetrics beds, 6 intensive care/critical care beds and 4 nonlicensed observation beds
- 24-hour Emergency Care
- Surgical services
- Obstetrical services
- Nursery
- Respiratory and physical therapy services
- Non-invasive cardiology services
- Infusion therapy services
- Diagnostic imaging services including CT and MRI, Fluoroscopy, Digital Mammography, Ultrasound, Bone
- Densitometry and Nuclear Medicine
- Laboratory
- Pharmacy
- Support services
- Air ambulance service
In 2008, nearly 4,000 Berkeley County residents traveled to a Roper St. Francis facility to receive medical care. Roper St. Francis will relocate 50 beds from Roper Hospital in downtown Charleston to its new hospital in Berkeley County.
“The redistribution of hospital beds from urban to suburban areas is a trend we're seeing across the nation,” said Bowling. “It makes sense to place hospital beds in the population centers where they will serve the most people and do the most good. In fact, we're transferring 85 beds from downtown to our new Mount Pleasant Hospital to better serve the East Cooper area residents, who will be served by two hospitals in 2010.”
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The Roper St. Francis Healthcare Mission:
Healing All People with Compassion, Faith and Excellence.