MUSC outlines $65 million in state funding priorities, including cancer center and recovery center

Dr. David Cole, president of the Medical University of South Carolina, told the Senate Finance Committee subcommittee on health and human services on March 5 that MUSC is asking the legislature for targeted recurring and one‑time funding to expand statewide services and research.

Cole told the subcommittee MUSC’s top request is additional support to secure National Cancer Institute comprehensive designation. “We need the additional $5,000,000 recurring over the next five years to be able to hire the physicians, to be able to get the clinical trials,” Cole said, adding the recurring $10 million the state provided in prior years had been deployed to lay groundwork for the application.

The university framed the NCI goal as a statewide access project: comprehensive designation, Cole said, “means that we’re not hunkered down in Charleston; we’re delivering care across the state and making a difference tangibly for our citizens.” MUSC said the additional recurring funding would support physician hires and clinical‑trial infrastructure required for the NCI review.

Cole also requested funding for a planned Palmetto Recovery and Renewal Center, describing it as “the first of its kind in South Carolina” to keep patients in‑state for treatment and rehabilitation. MUSC asked for $5,000,000 recurring plus a $50,000,000 one‑time appropriation to develop and operate that facility. When a senator corrected a smaller figure offered during the presentation, Cole accepted the correction on the record.

Separately, MUSC described a proposed Southeastern Health AI Consortium in partnership with the University of Florida to build regional analytics and data infrastructure for care optimization and clinical‑trial matching. Cole said the consortium would underpin initiatives such as next‑generation cancer therapeutics and pediatric glioblastoma trials, but he did not present a specific dollar amount for the consortium request during the hearing.

Cole highlighted other requests and initiatives: a neuromodulation therapy mobile clinic to deliver transcranial stimulation for treatment‑resistant depression (non‑recurring funds sought to establish capability), and graduate medical education (GME) startup funding for rural residency programs. He emphasized the state role in sustaining GME expansion, noting federal startup rules limit program growth unless hospitals and systems secure multi‑year start‑up resources. MUSC cited recent matches in Florence (all eight residency slots filled) and work on a Lancaster program with local philanthropic and Duke Endowment support.

Cole described MUSC as a $7,100,000,000 enterprise with nearly 32,000 employees and said MUSC research expenditures were roughly $360,000,000 last year, with NIH grants and indirect cost rate uncertainty a concern for the research budget.

The subcommittee pressed on retention and workforce distribution. Senator Burton emphasized the need to grow both residency slots and incentives to keep physicians in underserved counties; Cole described a two‑part debt forgiveness incentive (half-debt forgiveness for matching into critical‑needs residencies and the remainder after four years of practice) that MUSC and the state are implementing to improve retention.

MUSC officials acknowledged varying levels of detail remain to be worked out for several requests and said some asks will be phased across years and paired with private and federal support. No formal vote or committee action was taken during the presentation.

MUSC speakers listed their executive team (Rick Anderson, Don Hartsell, Mark Swetman, Quentin Tompkins, Sarah Hearn and Gary Simrill) and invited committee members to follow up on the GME, cancer center and behavioral‑health initiatives.

MUSC’s presentation concluded with committee appreciation for the university’s statewide partnership work and an invitation to provide additional details as the subcommittee develops budget recommendations.