MUSC receives $7 million from The Duke Endowment to expand care access and strengthen the health care workforce

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has received three grants from The Duke Endowment totaling $7 million to support three initiatives aimed at improving maternal health, expanding access to care and strengthening South Carolina’s health care workforce. The majority of these funds will be used to support hospital systems in North Carolina and South Carolina to replicate an evidence-based program aimed at improving maternal and infant health.

For more than 100 years, The Duke Endowment has supported MUSC’s mission to preserve and optimize human life through education, research and health care, benefiting communities across South Carolina and beyond.

“Fostering healthy communities is core to MUSC’s mission, and The Duke Endowment shares that vision,” said Carol Shannon, vice president of institutional advancement for the MUSC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and official philanthropic partner of MUSC. “These new grants help us bring care closer to home, invest in health workforce development and improve outcomes where the need is greatest.”

These grants will enable MUSC to:

Lead a regional effort to improve maternal and infant health
Grant amount: $5,298,000
With a $5.3 million grant, MUSC will partner with The Duke Endowment and the University of North Carolina to launch a technical assistance center focused on improving the health of mothers and babies in the Carolinas. The center will help hospitals and clinics across the Carolinas implement a proven, text/phone-based screening and referral program—originally developed at MUSC with support from The Duke Endowment—that identifies women at risk for complications during and after pregnancy.

Women are then connected to the care and support they need, including help with chronic conditions, mental health services and community resources. This program is especially critical in the Carolinas, which have some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the country.

Pilot a program to help more SC women have healthier pregnancies and births
Grant amount: $1,100,000
MUSC will also launch a new health initiative focused on women of reproductive age who are uninsured or enrolled in Medicaid, populations at higher risk for complications. A care team including nurses, social workers and community health workers will screen women via phone and text for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, or social needs like food or housing insecurity.

Women will be connected to care before pregnancy begins, an approach proven to reduce preventable complications and close health equity gaps. The $1.1 million grant will fund the technology, staffing and community partnerships needed to launch and evaluate this model, which is designed to be scalable and sustainable across South Carolina. The initiative is led by teams in population health, psychiatry and telehealth at MUSC.

Launch a workforce development initiative to address critical health care shortages in rural and underserved communities
Grant amount: $1,500,000
With a $1.5 million grant, the OneMUSC Workforce Development Initiative will help people start careers in health care—such as nursing, medical technology and allied health—through paid apprenticeships, job training and education. The program removes common barriers like cost, time and lack of access by offering paid work during training, nationally recognized certificates and clear career pathways. Led by a team of experts from across MUSC, the initiative aims to improve access to care while creating strong economic opportunities for South Carolinians.

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates over 3,300 students in six colleges and trains more than 1,060 residents and fellows across its health system. MUSC leads the state in federal, National Institutes of Health and other research funding. For information on our academic programs, visit MUSC.edu.