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Beaufort Memorial asks county to maintain support for ER and psychiatric unit; outlines housing and clinic expansions
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Summary
Beaufort Memorial told the council it is requesting the same support as prior years to underwrite indigent care, emergency-room and psychiatric services and gave updates on three housing/clinic projects including a 28-bed Bluffton community hospital and 120-unit Live Well Terrace.
Russell Baxley, speaking for Beaufort Memorial Hospital, asked Beaufort County on April 20 to continue funding at levels similar to prior years to support emergency-room services, indigent care and an adult psychiatric unit that the hospital described as the only such unit in the three-county area.
Baxley said the hospital handles about 120 emergency-room visits per day (roughly 44,000 visits a year) and that 15–20% of those patients are uninsured or underinsured, which shifts cost burdens to the hospital. He said Beaufort Memorial’s psychiatric services face similar uninsured-care pressures in the hospital’s 18-bed adult mental-health unit and that those services reduce systemwide strain by reducing ED boarding and out-of-area patient transfers.
Baxley said the hospital is not seeking a higher county appropriation than last year but is requesting continued support (the figure the presenter cited for indigent and psychiatric support was “a little over $1,000,000”). He described proactive steps the hospital is taking to adapt to payment changes, including value-based purchasing agreements, accountable-care models and efforts to diversify revenue.
Baxley also updated the council on capital and housing collaborations: Live Well Terrace in Bluffton (120 units) remains pending a temporary utility easement; Canal Apartments (approximately 20 workforce units) will be acquired by developer Woda Cooper with Beaufort Memorial providing financing support; and a 28-bed community hospital at Buckwalter Place in Bluffton is on track for substantial completion in November with early-March licensing and patient intake projected. He said a May River primary-care practice will add four primary-care providers and that the island clinic and urgent care projects are progressing.
Council members asked clarifying questions about a mistakenly included grant line item in the packet (a detention-center item that Baxley said should be zeroed out) and about service overlap with Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services. Baxley described collaboration and shared patients with the community health center and said he is exploring residency partnerships to expand workforce capacity.
Next steps: the hospital’s request will be incorporated into the administrators’ recommended budget for county consideration.
