Summerville, South Carolina
September 21, 2011 – The South
Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has approved
Summerville Medical Center’s (SMC) expansion project. In November of 2010, SMC
applied to DHEC for a Certificate of Need for a $26 million facility expansion.
The state’s decision reinforces the immediate need for additional hospital beds
in the Summerville and Dorchester County community. This bed expansion, which
the State recognized and predicted, is crucial to providing the community the
quality health care they need.
The 30-bed
expansion will allow the hospital to attract new specialists to the area and
further develop specialty care at the hospital. The project will also allow
SMC to complete its goal of eliminating semi-private rooms, which will provide
all patients with privacy, care and comfort.
In August, DHEC
held a project review for the expansion project. The review included allowing
Roper to present their opposition to the expansion project. SMC CEO Louis
Caputo says the State’s approval to build sends a message that in South
Carolina, the patient comes first. "We are pleased the state honored its own
health plan and look forward to getting started on this much needed project
focused on quality health care."
The construction
project will add 30 medical/surgical beds to the 94-bed facility, convert 18
semi-private rooms to private rooms, add an eight-bed critical care step down
unit and expand labor and delivery rooms. Construction will take approximately
36 months to complete. It is estimated this expansion will create 50 jobs
within the facility and 250 construction jobs.
About
Summerville Medical Center
Summerville Medical
Center is a 94-bed, acute care hospital located in the Oakbrook section of
Summerville between Ladson and Trolley Roads and is part of the HCA hospital
system. Accredited by The Joint Commission, Summerville Medical Center is
committed to providing quality health services along with wellness information
and opportunities to the communities it serves. The Joint Commission recently
named Summerville to their list of the nation’s top hospitals for quality and
safety. For more information about Summerville Medical Center, please visit our
website at www.tridenthealthsystem.com
or call 843.832.5000.
