The Medical University of South Carolina was officially welcomed to the Pee Dee by Carolinas Hospital System after acquiring four new hospitals. The hospitals include Springs Memorial Hospital in Lancaster, Chester Regional Medical Center in Chester and Carolinas Hospital System in Florence and Mullins.
According to Dr.Patrick Cawley, Chief Executive Officer for MUSC Health, the organization borrowed $137 million to acquire the hospitals and bring better health care to rural areas.
“People are demanding care that’s less expensive. They are demanding higher quality, and they’re demanding higher reliability. We felt like we had to get off the peninsula and get into more communities. We can’t lower the cost of care by ourselves in Charleston,” Cawley said.
With the transaction, MUSC will bring all of their telehealth services to the new hospitals. They will also start sending MUSC doctors in Charleston to the Pee Dee to perform speciality services.
Carolinas Hospital System held a press conference on Friday where officials talked about what benefits MUSC will bring. Chief Medical Officer of Carolinas Hospital System, Dr.Rami Zebian, said he’s excited to see how patients and employees will adapt.
“For us to be able to partner with MUSC and be able to offer the same quality of services that are available in Charleston to everybody in the community, especially in the Pee Dee area is huge,” Zebian said.
