GEORGETOWN, SC – Tidelands Health is seeking state approval to build a $41 million, state-of-the-art surgery pavilion at Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital.
The 43,500-square-foot structure, which will be attached to the existing hospital building on Black River Road, will replace the hospital’s existing surgery suites and will be equipped with the latest equipment and technology to advance treatment and care.
“The new surgery pavilion is something that we can all be proud of,” said Bruce Bailey, president and CEO of Tidelands Health. “This forward-thinking investment by our board of trustees will enable the hospital to deliver high-quality surgical care and meet the needs of patients, families and health care providers.”
The one-story structure, which will face Black River Road, will include four operating rooms and two additional rooms for endoscopy and new procedures.
The new surgery pavilion will be designed to improve flow and increase efficiency, particularly for outpatient surgeries, which constitute the greatest percentage of the more than 2,400 surgeries performed in the hospital’s operating rooms each year.
Tidelands Health has filed a certificate of need with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and, once approval is obtained, will break ground on the surgery pavilion. Construction is expected to take about 15 months. Plans call for the project to be financed with tax-exempt bonds and supported by private donations.
The new surgery center is part of a multimillion-dollar, multi-year renovation at Tidelands Georgetown. Renovations, which began in 2012, have included new and larger patient rooms, a new women’s services unit, a new laboratory, a totally redone first-floor mall area and Black River Road entrance and expanded parking. Construction on a new hospital entrance on the hospital’s east side will be complete this summer.
Opened in 1950, Tidelands Georgetown is the first facility in the Tidelands Health system, which has become the largest health care provider in Georgetown and Horry counties and includes care locations from Andrews to North Myrtle Beach. Tidelands Health facilities also include Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital and Tidelands Waccamaw Rehabilitation Hospital, Tidelands Health Group, numerous Tidelands Next Step Rehabilitation Services locations, Tidelands HealthPoint Center for Health and Fitness and the Tidelands Health Community Care network. The health system includes more than 2,000 employee and physicians partners on staff.