DHEC gives green light to 2 Lowcountry medical projects

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The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has approved certificates of need for two new medical facilities in the Lowcountry.

Trident Medical Center received the required approval for its 60-bed free-standing behavioral health facility, which it applied for in May.

The $34.8 million project will be located near Trident’s North Charleston campus and is expected to take 2 1/2 years to complete. The health care system currently has a 17-bed inpatient behavioral health program, as well as outpatient services.

“We’re looking forward to expanding the excellent care our physicians and staff provide every day to those in need,” Trident Health CEO Todd Gallati said in a news release.

The Medical University of South Carolina received DHEC approval for its 128-bed Berkeley County hospital.

MUSC Health Community Hospital at Nexton will provide inpatient and outpatient services and is estimated to cost $325 million, according to a news release. Nexton is at the crossroads of Interstate 26 and Highway 17A in Summerville.

“We are committed to delivering top-quality care and increased access to every patient,” Dr. Patrick Cawley, CEO of MUSC Health, said in the news release. “To achieve this goal, we must position our health care network in synchronicity with the energetic growth of the greater Charleston community.”

MUSC applied for its certificate of need for the 311,221-square-foot facility in December. The hospital is expected to be operational in 2022. Sheila Champlin, chief communications and marketing officer for MUSC, said in an email that construction could begin as early as 2019.

“The Nexton hospital will be a much-needed addition to our health care system,” MUSC President Dr. David Cole said in the news release.

Currently, the only hospital in Summerville is Summerville Medical Center, a 94-bed hospital run by Trident Health; Trident also holds a certificate of need for a hospital in Berkeley County but has not announced plans to build one.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare is finishing construction on its new Berkeley County hospital, a 90-acre campus near the Carnes Crossroads development that is expected to open in the summer of 2019.