JEDA Bond Funding Helps Charleston's Roper St. Francis Expand Primary Care Group
November 2, 2009
CHARLESTON, SC – November 2, 2009 – Bond financing facilitated by the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA) has helped one of Charleston’s major medical providers retain nearly 400 jobs while strengthening its ability to meet its core mission.
The $12.5 million in bond funding recently secured by Roper St. Francis Healthcare (RSFH) was used to finalize the acquisition of Lowcountry Medical Associates (LMA), one of the largest primary care group practices in the Palmetto State.
The addition of LMA’s 23 offices, laboratory and two diagnostic imaging centers – along with its staff of 62 physicians and 319 employees – brings to more than 140 the number of physicians offering primary and specialty care at 53 locations in the Charleston metropolitan area through Roper St. Francis Physician Partners (RSFPP).
This affiliation brings together two excellent healthcare organizations, said Doug Bowling, CEO for RSFPP. Combining our strengths and resources makes good sense, and it will benefit the communities we serve, now and into the future, by improving both quality and access to health care for area residents.
The bond funding will be used to reimburse Roper St. Francis Healthcare for costs associated with the acquisition and integration of LMA.
The stated mission of Roper St. Francis is to ‘heal all people with compassion, faith and excellence,’ and this acquisition will result in significant benefits to the community by helping this great organization meet that critical goal, said Harry Huntley, Executive Director of JEDA. We’re pleased to have played a role in it.
Although JEDA was established more than 25 years ago, as evidenced by the recent Roper St. Francis Healthcare bond issue and the other current financings through which JEDA is facilitating investments by manufacturers and non-profit organizations, JEDA remains true to its founding purposes – to support project investment and job creation throughout South Carolina, said Jeremy Cook, bond counsel for Roper St. Francis Healthcare.
Whether it is the YMCA where we exercise, the manufacturer where we work, or in this case, the hospital facilities where we receive medical care, JEDA has facilitated investment and job creation by all of them, said Cook, a shareholder with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. in Charleston.
About JEDA
For more than 25 years, JEDA has promoted the business and economic welfare of South Carolina by assisting in the financing of public and private projects throughout the Palmetto State. JEDA serves as a statewide conduit issuer of special obligation revenue bonds and acts on behalf of the borrower to access financial markets and capital. Since its creation in 1983, JEDA has issued 400 bonds for over $6 billion in South Carolina’s economy, resulting in the creation of more than 25,000 new jobs.
For more information about JEDA, visit us online at www.scjeda.com
