MUSC trustees hear fiscal year 2019 year-end reports plus recent highlights in fiscal year 2020

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Medical University Hospital Authority (MUHA) Board of Trustees held their regularly scheduled meeting to receive reports on academic programs, research and clinical operations.

During his annual report to the board, David J. Cole, M.D., FACS, MUSC president, said, “In fiscal year 2019, our institution made significant progress on a number of fronts, including key additions to the leadership team and advancing our institutional strategy. We’ve also started strong in 2020 with well-deserved recognition for our award-winning health system and with new planned projects coming online.

“MUSC is extending the reach and scope of our quality care to new locations throughout the Charleston area and across the state.” Cole added, “Our strategic efforts to build a health system that enables best care locally with the integration to provide the right care at the right time and place are already having an impact for our patients, families and communities.”

“The MUSC administration and our board members continue to focus not only on what our community needs now but also on what our state and region will need in years to come,” said Charles W. Schulze, CPA, chairman of the MUSC board. “The dedication ceremony being held tomorrow for the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion serves as a testament to our emphasis on changing what’s possible today and as an indicator of even more advances on the horizon.”

The highlights Cole shared included:

• Hiring Stuart Ames as the new CEO for the MUSC Foundation, the more than $627 million asset-based charitable foundation that supports the MUSC mission dedicated to education, research and patient care.
• Updating on the 10-year partnership with Siemens Healthineers to transform health care delivery through joint innovation and performance excellence. Siemens Healthineers is a global company that harnesses engineering, business and research expertise to enable health care providers worldwide to increase value to consumers.
• Briefing on the five-year value-based health care partnership with Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device and solutions company, to improve quality and decrease costs.
• Completing the acquisition of four CHS-affiliated community hospitals and transforming them into the MUSC Health Regional Hospital Network.
• Forging innovative relationships to support and redefine how rural health care is delivered. Letters of intent were signed with Williamsburg Regional Medical Center and Lake City Community Hospital
• Signing a contract with the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Hampton Regional Medical Center.
• Providing milestones in five colleges. Among the achievements noted were:
  • The College of Dental Medicine was the first dental school in the nation to receive a 3D metal printer, giving students access to this innovative technology during their training.
  • U.S. News and World Report rankings placed the College of Health Professions Physician Assistant program No. 46, in the top 20%, and the Master of Health Administration was No. 20 among 75 ranked programs.
  • The College of Medicine successfully implemented an innovative FLEX curriculum that allows select students to complete their M.D. degree in three years.
  • The College of Nursing raised nearly $3.5 million for scholarships in two years and is now able to award scholarships to more than 45% of students.
  • The College of Pharmacy students registered a first-time board exam (NAPLEX) pass rate of 94.7%, above the national average of 89.5%. Plus, the Pharmacy students’ residency match rate was 90.6%, well above the national average of 65.4%.
• Having MUSC Health University Hospital ranked by U.S. News & World Report, for the fifth consecutive year as the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina.

The usual two days of committee and board meetings were held on one day to accommodate the Friday, August 9, dedication ceremony for the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion. When it opens in October, the new $385 million children’s hospital will be the most technologically advanced facility of its kind in the country.

The MUSC/MUHA Board of Trustees serve as separate bodies to govern the university and hospital, holding two days of committee and board meetings six times a year.

For more information about the MUSC Board of Trustees, visit: http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/leadership/board/index.html.

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About The Medical University of South Carolina

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South, as well as the state’s only integrated, academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and 700 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state’s leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, MUSC brought in more than $276.5 million in fiscal year 2018.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available, while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians’ practice plan, and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2019, for the fifth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the number one hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit http://muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.