Pillar 1: Expanding Access to Leading Healthcare
From the opening of Okatie Medical Pavilion to the establishment of our urgent care facilities, we have consistently addressed the growing need for primary care, surgical services, and cancer care - and we remain steadfast in our commitment to meeting those need today.
Bluffton Community Medical Campus
The project will include a freestanding emergency department and an ambulatory surgery center.
The BCMC will allow Beaufort Memorial to provide emergency services and outpatient surgical procedures, as well as related services that support emergency medical care (imaging, lab, pathology, trauma).
The multi-level medical office building planned for the corner of Buckwalter and Bluffton parkways, the Beaufort Memorial Bluffton Community Medical Campus (BCMC) will be a huge step by Beaufort Memorial toward improving the accessibility of health care in southern Beaufort and Jasper counties, offering patients an opportunity to receive quality care even closer to home.
Complete with four operating rooms, two endoscopy rooms, a cath lab and a bay fitting three ambulances, the emergency room will accept walk-in patients as well as ambulance delivery.
It’s no secret that the plans for this project have shifted somewhat; in 2018, following the state’s approval of the organization’s certificate of need (CON), Beaufort Memorial announced plans to open the state’s first “micro-hospital” in Bluffton with construction to be completed in 2022.
The CON process is administered by the South Carolina Department of Public Health (formerly the Department of Health and Environmental Control), and up until May of 2023 required most health care facilities to be approved prior to construction. Now, only hospitals with inpatient overnight stays must go through the CON process.
A micro-hospital is an acute care hospital that meets all federal and state licensing and regulatory requirements. They focus on treating low-acuity patients with a higher level of service, providing ambulatory and emergency services while leaving more complex surgeries and service lines for their associated full-service hospitals.
After six years of battling opposition to the project in court, Beaufort Memorial withdrew its CON earlier this month, shifting the plan from establishing a “micro-hospital” to a medical office building with a freestanding emergency department and ambulatory surgery center. The site will also allow opportunities for future expansion.
Hilton Head Island Freestanding
Emergency Department and Urgent Care
Beaufort Memorial is continuing to expand access to care in southern Beaufort County, announcing today a key partnership with Intuitive Health and MUSC Health to establish a hybrid emergency room and urgent care facility on the southern end Hilton Head Island.
Beaufort Memorial Emergency & Urgent Care, one of the first hybrid facilities of its kind in the state, is a crucial step for Beaufort Memorial in its ongoing commitment to meeting the need for care on Hilton Head Island.
Beaufort Memorial recognizes the growing need and lack of access on the Island for both urgent care and emergency care services. This facility will bring that urgently needed care to residents closer to home.
May River Crossing
In October of 2024, Beaufort Memorial closed on property at May River Crossing. This location is slated to add additional primary care, specialty care, lab and imaging services to the Bluffton area.
A construction timeline in not currently set.
Renovations to Lady's Island
Internal Medicine
& Lowcountry Medical Group
Northern Beaufort County is also in need of additional primary care providers. To assist with recruitment efforts, two locations are preparing for renovations to provide space for eight additional primary care providers to the Beaufort market.
Renovations to the Lady's Island Internal Medicine office at 117 Sea Island Parkway on Lady's Island are underway to make room for an additional primary care provider.
In November 2024, Beaufort Memorial Pulmonary Specialists expanded into the Lowcountry Medical Group building at 300 Midtown Drive in Beaufort. Additional shifts in practice office space at this location will allow for Lowcountry Medical Group Primary Care to expand.