Holly Hill area residents quiz new hospital CEO

“I’m here to give you an update on what we’re doing at MUSC Health Orangeburg, where our mission is to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina and beyond through education, research and patient care,” he said.

MUSC is operating the former Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties system under a long-term lease with the county governments.

Bennett, who began his new duties on June 12, called the hospital a precious gem that was “neglected throughout the years. … We need to shine up that diamond.”

“It’s hard to attract the best talent to a rural hospital, but now that we’re a part of MUSC, there are more resources available, along with that brand recognition, so we are able more and more to attract the best talent,” including four new physicians in the past month alone, Bennett said.

“It’s a new day in Orangeburg,” Bennett said. “We’re going to give the best possible experience to everyone who comes through our doors.”

“I’m hoping it’s going to get better,” one area citizen told the hospital CEO. “The service was frustrating and very poor for my family. I don’t usually go to Orangeburg. We’re closer to Roper Berkeley.”

Bennett said, “I don’t want you to have to go to Columbia or Charleston or anywhere else to receive services, because we have great services here.”

He cited the Dialysis Access Institute, which is rated No. 1 in the nation and attracts patients from multiple states.

“We’ve been very busy initiating programs and trying to find ways to increase access to health for all of our constituents,” he said. “MUSC is all about innovation. How can we find ways to be creative? We make change possible.”

The hospital has added treatment options for heart attack patients and no longer needs to automatically airlift them to facilities in Columbia or Charleston. A new cardiologist may be hired next year.

Ramping up cancer care, the hospital has hired a new radiation oncologist and medical oncologist and has closer ties to the Hollings facility in Charleston.

The hospital is replacing its Cerner electronic medical record system.

“Our goal is to go live on the EPIC system on Dec. 7,” Bennett said.

MUSC Orangeburg has received a grant to establish a behavioral health stabilization unit for adults and juveniles.

“We’re not perfect, but we’re going to strive for perfection,” he said. That means taking action in areas where the hospital can improve and “holding every single leader and every single care team member accountable.”

“I’m requiring that all leaders and care team members go through a patient engagement session where they learn how to treat people when they come into any of our facilities,” he said. “We are definitely looking into the pay and equity of compensation of our people as well.”

An audience member spoke of arriving at the RMC Emergency Department at 7 one evening and having to stay there until 9 the next morning.

“We normally have three or four providers in the ED at all times,” Bennett said. “We’re just not moving patients out of our ED fast enough.”

Some patients need to be admitted to intensive care, critical care, or a conventional hospital room. Others can be discharged, but sometimes a lack of transportation delays the process.

The conversation turned to the former RMC’s existing and potential new services in eastern Orangeburg County.

Existing services include a family practice that is “able to take care of pediatric through geriatric” patients, in addition to a HealthPlex.

“We are looking at what else we can provide to the Holly Hill community,” such as an obstetrician-gynecologist, a pediatrician, or an internist, Bennett said.

One audience member spoke of the problem of access to health care outside the traditional doctor’s office hours.

“I totally get it,” Bennett said. He’s a Manning native who spent the past 17 years of his career in Spartanburg, where he said urgent care facilities are open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. on weekends.

“We need to get to something very near to that,” he said.

Bennett noted that the previous RMC received a certificate of need from the state to build a free-standing facility “along the Interstate 95 corridor.”

MUSC “will be looking and evaluating where exactly we will put it” and “exactly what is the true need” – an emergency department, urgent care, express care, or some combination. Those terms describe specific levels of medical care.

MUSC inherited the former RMC’s urgent care facility in Santee.

“It was created through a grant from Duke,” an audience member said. “It’s been there for years and it’s done very poorly. It’s like it doesn’t understand what it’s there for.”

Bennett responded that he visited the Santee facility two weeks earlier.

“Based on my evaluation, it doesn’t function like a true urgent care, like I’m traditionally used to,” he said. “It is a quasi-physician practice. We’re unable to do X-rays there, due to our equipment being down, and we are unable to do lab draws.”

“I’m trying to get a new X-ray machine there in the next two months” and add lab draws by the end of 2023, “so it will turn into a true urgent care until we’re able to build a new facility,” he said.

Bennett noted that “MUSC is not the Medical University of Charleston. We are the Medical University of South Carolina and we are spread across the whole state. We have facilities in Charleston, Columbia, Lancaster, Florence, and now Orangeburg.” Each facility has a specific purpose. The teaching university aspect is housed in Charleston.

Bennett received applause and words of appreciation for taking the time and effort to visit the Holly Hill elected officials and area residents.

In other business:

• The council gave first reading to the town budget for fiscal year 2023-2024, as follows: general fund revenues, $1,700, 067; general fund expenses, $1,676,484; water fund revenues, $698,800; and water fund expenses, $722,383. A public hearing will precede the final vote at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28, in the town hall meeting room. Call 803-496-3330 or visit the town hall for details.

• Police Chief Josh Detter reported that a new Dodge Durango patrol vehicle had been delivered and a second one was expected within days.

• Resident Diane Bergen asked how she could report a door-to-door solicitor. She was advised to contact the police department.