MUSC Health files to build new ER on Johns Island

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The Medical University of South Carolina filed a certificate of need this week to construct a free-standing emergency department on Seabrook Island Road on Johns Island.

The $15.3 million facility will include four exam rooms, two trauma rooms, fast-track triage, imaging and lab services and a helipad. An adjacent medical office building will offer primary and specialty care.

The certificate of need filing was made through the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, which must issue the certificate before certain types of health care acquisitions, expansions and new facilities are allowed, according to a news release.

Dr. Patrick J. Cawley, MUSC Health CEO and vice president for health affairs at the university, said the new facility will bring medical care to a community that currently does not have easy, timely access to those services.

“The Sea Islands communities continue to experience rapid residential growth,” Cawley said in the release. “As a result, their residents need improved access to health care.”

Cawley said tourist season brings in visitors who may have difficulty navigating health care services in Charleston, and he said the new emergency department will directly address that issue.  

If the certificate of need is approved, Kiawah Partners will donate the land for the new MUSC facility, the release said.

“Providing excellent health care to the residents of Kiawah, Seabrook and the Sea Islands has been a priority of ours since day one,” said Chris Randolph with Kiawah Partners. “For more than four years, we have worked hand in hand with MUSC to develop a concept for a world-class medical facility, and it is extremely gratifying to see it move closer to becoming a reality.”

The project’s goals are to provide immediate access to emergency services, expand primary and specialty care services, enhance specialty care with telehealth capabilities and provide access to imaging, the release said.