BY KATY STECH
The Post and Courier
Roper St. Francis Healthcare is expected to
release detailed plans today about a new hospital it plans to build in a
fast-growing area of Berkeley County.
Officials declined to provide specifics
Wednesday, but The Post and Courier has learned that the health care provider is
planning to begin the process of obtaining its approvals from the state
Department of Health and Environmental Control.
It's unknown how many beds the proposed
facility will have, when it will open and how soon the company plans to begin
construction.
A "major announcement" is set for
this morning at Goose Creek City Hall, Roper St. Francis said.
Earlier this year, Roper St. Francis, which
operates hospitals in downtown Charleston and West Ashley, paid $8.9 million for
a 64-acre swath of forestland in the yet-to-be-built Carnes Crossroads
subdivision in Goose Creek.
The site, near the intersection of U.S. 176 and
U.S. 17A, is large enough to support a full-service hospital.
In late July Roper St. Francis asked the state
for authorization to relocate three operating rooms from its Moncks Corner
ambulatory surgical center to a two-story medical building it plans to build on
the Carnes Crossroads property.
Health care providers are positioning
themselves to capitalize on the residential growth projected for Berkeley
County.
Rival health-care provider Trident Health
System was first out of the gate, filing its paperwork last month for a $115
million, 50-bed hospital it wants to build in Moncks Corner.
With Roper St. Francis expected to follow suit
in nearby Goose Creek, state health regulators will have the task of granting
permits for each project.
As part of the approval process, the competing
health-care providers each must obtain from the DHEC a "certificate of
need" to ensure that the local population can support any new major medical
investments, such as a hospital.
The state has the power in these cases to
dictate construction timelines, as it did when Roper St. Francis and East Cooper
Regional Medical Center each sought permission for new hospitals for Mount
Pleasant.
East Cooper Medical is now building a 140-bed
replacement facility next to its current hospital on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard,
adding 40 beds to its capacity.
Roper St. Francis recently broke ground on an
85-bed hospital farther north off U.S. Highway 17.
Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.