MUSC to construct, own and operate $50M replacement hospital in Lake City/Williamsburg

MUSC Health, the clinical enterprise of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), has signed a letter of intent with Lake City Community Hospital and Williamsburg Regional Hospital that authorizes MUSC to construct, own and operate a new $50 million replacement hospital. The new hospital will be a 25-bed critical access facility, providing care through traditional on-site delivery as well as through virtual visits via the extensive MUSC Telehealth Network.

Critical access hospitals serve small, rural populations and receive cost-based adjusted reimbursements for Medicare services. These cost adjustments help to stabilize rural hospitals, making them less vulnerable to financial issues. The cost-based reimbursements also improve access to health care, ensuring that services are available and sustainable in rural communities.

The new MUSC Health facility will serve the health care needs of the Lower Florence County Hospital District, other areas of Florence, residents of Williamsburg County, as well as neighbors from other adjacent counties. When the new MUSC facility opens, both Lake City Community Hospital and Williamsburg Regional Hospital will transfer all operations for inpatient and outpatient services to the new MUSC hospital.

“Maintaining and expanding access to health care in rural areas across our state is a challenge that my administration is committed to addressing head on,” said Gov. Henry McMaster. “With tremendous partners like MUSC, the innovation and creativity that is required to succeed in this endeavor is on full display.”

A replacement hospital is desperately needed in Williamsburg County due to the October 2015 thousand-year floods in Kingstree, S.C., location of Williamsburg Regional Hospital. More than three years ago, 31 inches of rainfall caused massive flooding throughout the area. Torrents of water inside the hospital building, multiplied by standing water and black mold, damaged the Williamsburg Regional Hospital building beyond repair.

The leadership and providers of Williamsburg Regional Hospital have been operating a temporary hospital to serve patients since April 2016. Modular housing units serve as emergency, exam and other patient care rooms; however, a long-term solution had to be found.

Like many other rural health care facilities, Lake City Community Hospital has also experienced financial challenges. Its leaders are working to balance the uncertainties of the future with the need to expand access to health care for its citizens. For small community hospitals, long-term viability is challenged by declines in both rural populations and hospital admissions.

The people served by Lake City Community Hospital and Williamsburg Regional Hospital have a history of social, economic and, to some degree, political connections dating from pre-revolutionary war times to present day. The concept of establishing a new hospital facility to serve the patient base of both community hospitals has been discussed periodically since the 1950s when the two community hospitals were being created. Bringing these discussions to fruition appears to be the most appropriate method to meet the needs of both hospitals and their patient base most effectively.

Funding options for the new MUSC Health facility in the Williamsburg and Florence communities are currently being explored. The location for the new hospital has not been finalized; however, several options are under review. Construction of the new hospital is expected to take between 24 and 36 months, thus the opening date is projected as fall 2022.

At this juncture, no decisions have been made about the disposition of either of the old hospital buildings in Kingstree and Lake City. In the coming months, leaders from MUSC, Lake City Community Hospital and Williamsburg Regional Hospital will be involved in the decision-making.

MUSC works diligently to fulfill its mission through financial management, philanthropic support and strategic business growth. Roughly 60 percent of all MUSC Health patient care revenues are generated from statewide communities outside of the Tri-county area, while the remaining 40 percent of patient care revenues are driven by services delivered within the tri-county market (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties).