Ribbon-cutting celebrates new Children’s Unit at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital

Roper St. Francis Healthcare and MUSC Children’s Health on Monday, Nov. 24, cut a ribbon to celebrate their new Children’s Unit at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital – a major milestone in a first-of-its-kind partnership for South Carolina.

Set to welcome its first patients in early December, the 16-bed unit will serve children who need low-acuity inpatient or overnight care, allowing more families to stay closer to home in West Ashley. Those who need a higher level of care can be seamlessly transferred to MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital in downtown Charleston.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare President and CEO Joseph DeLeon said the opening reflects long-term goals outlined in the system’s 2030 Strategic Plan. “We are pleased to come together and provide this service for the people of Charleston,” he said.

Dr. Megan Baker, Chief Clinical Officer at Roper St. Francis Healthcare, said the partnership improves healthcare access and ensures “the right patient is in the right place at the right time.”

Built collaboratively with experts from MUSC, the unit is staffed by a specialized team. Tavia Buck, the hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer, said unit’s nurses and patient care technicians had a hand in everything from equipment selection to workflow design, creating a deeply engaged team with more than 140 combined years of pediatric experience.

“They really own this unit,” she said.

The project also included updates to the hospital’s Emergency Department to support pediatric readiness and ensure collaboration with MUSC pediatric hospitalists.

Dr. John Pastore, the MUSC pediatric hospitalist who will serve as the unit’s medical director, said patients will receive care that mirrors the quality of MUSC’s downtown facility and offer a child-life therapist to help bring calm to patients and their families during a difficult time.

He added: “I am hopeful that other parts of the state will look at what we have built here, and say, ‘This is the gold standard for collaborative inpatient community-based care.’”