Beaufort Memorial stands up against competitor that has delayed needed care in Bluffton 

A public hearing concerning a competing health care system’s hospital project in Bluffton brought support for Beaufort Memorial and its mission for smart expansion on Tuesday, Jan. 14. 

The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) hosted a public hearing at the Bluffton branch library on Jan. 14 to hear opposition to an expansion project by a North-Carolina-based competitor. 

The hearing, which was requested by Beaufort Memorial in November, brought loud support for Beaufort Memorial’s position as a community hospital and its history of – and ongoing dedication to – providing a growing region with access to high-quality, compassionate health care. 

Why? 

Beaufort Memorial’s opposition to this competitor’s new project has nothing to do with keeping competition out of the Bluffton area; in fact, as Beaufort Memorial President and CEO Russell Baxley stated at the hearing, more health care options for Bluffton patients is a good thing, elevating the service and quality of care. 

Beaufort Memorial has recognized the need for a new hospital in the Bluffton area since 2018, when they were approved by the state to build a “micro-hospital” there. 

Since then, two competing hospitals have opposed the project, tying it up in court for over six years. On Feb. 1, 2024, those two competing hospitals were purchased by a North Carolina-based competitor, which continued its opposition to the project. 

“In 2018, we applied for and worked with the state to receive approval of a 20-bed hospital at Buckwalter Parkway,” Baxley said. “Despite the obvious need in Bluffton for a hospital – and the state’s approval for a new hospital in Bluffton – the hospital was challenged at every step.” 

That competitor and opposition is the reason that there is no hospital in Bluffton today. 

Awarding that same competitor with the green light to proceed with their project would be like rewarding the organization for leaving the rapidly-growing Bluffton community desperate for the health care services for nearly a decade. 

Where we’ve been 

Baxley first laid the foundation for his presentation at the hearing with a brief history of Beaufort Memorial’s longstanding tradition of patient-centered, innovative health care that has always sought to grow with its community since the nonprofit hospital first opened its doors in 1944. 

He highlighted Beaufort Memorial’s evolving footprint; now in 2025, the organization staffs nearly 2,000 employees throughout the community, maintains not only a 201-bed hospital in Beaufort, but two cancer centers, an ambulatory surgery center with three operating rooms and two procedure rooms, three Express Care and Occupational Medicine clinics, three Breast Health Centers, four Outpatient Imaging Centers, a Joint Replacement Center and a birthing center – just to name a few. 

While Beaufort Memorial’s physical footprint has grown over the last few decades, its philanthropic opportunities have blossomed as well since the Beaufort Memorial Foundation was established in 1984. Private donors, grants and family and community foundations have totaled over $50 million in support to the Beaufort Memorial Foundation which assists the non-profit hospital system with purchasing equipment and supporting uncompensated patient programs. 

Baxley also shared facts and figures relating to the hospital’s awards and certifications (spanning from entities such as The Joint Commission, American Heart Association, and American College of Cardiology and more), and noted that in 2024, Beaufort Memorial saw 9,059 hospital admissions, 292,214 physician office visits, 1,110 deliveries in the Collins Birthing Center and 45,700 emergency room visits. 

Recruiting more physicians and advance practice providers has been a huge focus over the last several years, Baxley said, in both the areas of primary and specialty care with many new providers based in the Bluffton and Okatie areas. 

The organization’s partnerships with home health specialist Amedisys, Good Neighbor Medical Clinic, Access Health of the Lowcountry, Volunteers in Medicine and more have allowed Beaufort Memorial to further expand access to much-needed care within a diverse community with equally diverse health care needs. 

Beaufort Memorial is also focused on growing its workforce through the proprietary People Achieving Their Highest (PATH) Program, which has seen 79 graduates in eight cohorts since its inception, as well as supporting its employees with rental housing assistance, homebuyer assistance, burnout mitigation and free wellness programs. 

Tackling a huge issue facing not just the Lowcountry but the nation as a whole, Beaufort Memorial has entered the affordable housing arena, too, with one multi-family housing project underway in Bluffton right now, and two similar projects on the horizon for both Okatie and Beaufort, as well as helping 20 of its employees so far purchase their own homes with its Homebuyer Assistance program. 

Childcare is a persistent challenge for parents in Beaufort County, with the county being labeled a “childcare desert.” Beaufort Memorial cut the ribbon in November on its Learning Center’s new location right on the hospital’s campus in Beaufort. 

New horizons 

Beaufort Memorial’s growth and illustrated commitment to expanding access to care throughout the Lowcountry has made huge strides over the last several years, but it doesn’t stop there, Baxley said. 

The hospital is seeing renovations at its main campus including its ongoing surgical pavilion expansion, a new crisis stabilization unit in the ER and a new Angiography suite, with construction slated to begin next month. In the realm of Primary Care, the organization will add a total of eight new primary care providers this year, as well as renovations to Lady’s Island Internal Medicine and the construction of Beaufort Memorial May River Crossing Primary Care location, a 5,000-square-foot medical office building to be added south of the Broad River. 

Less than three weeks ago, Beaufort Memorial announced its partnership with MUSC Health and Intuitive Health to establish a two-in-one emergency room and urgent care on the southern end of Hilton Head Island, an area with a growing population, huge tourist traffic and, as of right now, very few options for convenient health care. 

The biggest project in the works for Beaufort Memorial right now is the planned Bluffton Community Medical Campus, a project that pivoted from the original micro-hospital located on the corner of Bluffton and Buckwalter Parkways. This facility will include both emergency and surgical services, with its groundbreaking underway in early 2025. 

The road to Bluffton 

Beaufort Memorial’s journey to the development of the Bluffton Community Medical Campus has been one marked with opposition from competitors, stalling the project for over six years. 

Beaufort Memorial has long acknowledged the need for a new hospital in Bluffton, Baxley said, and filed a Certificate of Need (CON) for a new Bluffton hospital in 2018.

The state’s CON program aims to prevent unnecessary duplication of health care facilities and services and guide the establishment of these facilities based on what will best serve the needs of the public. 

Hospitals now owned by Beaufort Memorial’s North-Carolina-based competitor opposed the 2018 plan for a new hospital by Beaufort Memorial, arguing that because of those two hospitals in Hardeeville and on Hilton Head Island, the community had access to the care they needed. 

Due to ongoing opposition and the desire to move the project ahead without further delay, Beaufort Memorial withdrew its CON in September 2024 and adjusted the plan to allow for construction of a medical office building with a freestanding emergency department and ambulatory surgery center, with opportunities for future expansion. 

Less than 30 days after Beaufort Memorial withdrew its CON, this competitor applied to develop their own 50-bed hospital 300 yards from where Beaufort Memorial’s planned facility would go, claiming in their CON application that Bluffton area residents needed a closer hospital than the current existing facilities – a direct contradiction to their original opposition to Beaufort Memorial’s initial plans in 2018.
 

Strong local support 

Several community members made public comments at the hearing in support of the nonprofit community hospital’s unwavering mission and dedication to the health and well-being of Lowcountry residents in Beaufort County and beyond. 

Saj Joy, M.D., MBA, M.S., FAAPL, CEO of MUSC Health Charleston Division, emphasized MUSC’s ongoing partnership with Beaufort Memorial and stated that MUSC Health opposes the competitor’s CON. 

Attorney Alex Dorobantu, chair of the Beaufort Memorial Foundation Board said that while legally, this competitor has not broken the law, their opposition to Beaufort Memorial’s project in Bluffton isn’t right. 

“When there’s a clear need for a hospital, and for seven years they block it, that does not seem ethical to me,” he said. 

Beaufort Memorial Foundation Board secretary Geneva Baxley emphasized Beaufort Memorial’s role as a community hospital that is “adaptive, smart and future-oriented.” 

“When an organization like Beaufort Memorial wants to expand to keep up with the population growth of the Lowcountry and respond to its increased demand for care, why have we been opposed, obstructed, denied and litigated?” she asked. “As a parent, we tell our kids when someone is bullying you at school, turn the other cheek. Tell them to stop. Work it out the best you can and find a compromise. What do we do when the bullying won’t stop? We tell them to stand their ground, stand up for themselves, and fight back.” 

Next steps 

In December, Beaufort Memorial submitted a new Certificate of Need (CON) for the addition of 28 inpatient beds on the third floor of the planned Bluffton Community Medical Campus. That application has been received by DPH and will make its way through the process. 

Since Beaufort Memorial requested the Jan. 14 public hearing, DPH is required to make its decision about their competitor’s CON application no later than 120 calendar days from Nov. 22, 2024 – the date that Beaufort Memorial was notified that their competitor’s CON was deemed complete. 

The final deadline for DPH’s decision is Monday, March 24, 2025.