New hospital board proposed; RMC may become MUSC Health

The current 17-member Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees will be dissolved on Oct. 1 and a new 11-member board will be appointed under a proposed ordinance establishing the hospital’s partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina.

The ordinance also establishes a new, 18-member Constituency Advisory Board tasked with providing the new hospital board with recommendations “based on the identified health care needs of the area served by the hospital and the entities that interact with the hospital.”

The proposal also changes the name of the hospital from the Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties to MUSC Health Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties.

The ordinance has to be approved by both Orangeburg and Calhoun county councils. The counties own the hospital.

According to the ordinance, initial appointments to the new board could include active members of the RMC/MUSC workgroup, which does include some RMC trustees. Otherwise, the other members currently serving on the RMC board would no longer be on the board.

MUSC will have the right to organize or restructure the hospital’s leadership team.

The new board of MUSC Health Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties would be composed of:

• Five members from Orangeburg County appointed by the Orangeburg County Council, with one member from eastern Orangeburg County, one member from central Orangeburg County, one member from western Orangeburg County, and two members from Orangeburg County at-large.

• Two members from Calhoun County appointed at-large by Calhoun County Council.

• Two members appointed by “the legislative delegation.”

• The chief of staff and chairman of the executive committee of the medical staff, appointed to the board by virtue of their positions.

The ordinance asks appointing authorities to begin evaluating candidates and making appointments to the new board of trustees.

The first chairman of the new board of trustees would be from Orangeburg County and the first vice chairman would be from Calhoun County.

Under the ordinance, the new board would be allowed to enter into a long-term lease of the hospital so long as the board of trustees has obtained the consent, in writing, of both the Orangeburg County Council and the Calhoun County Council and so long as the hospital or its affiliates receives a portion of the revenue, in some manner, generated from the lease.

“The long-term lease may not exceed 99 years,” according to the ordinance.

The lease would automatically renew unless either county council adopts an ordinance objecting to the pending renewal within 90 days of the expiration of the lease, the ordinance states.

The ordinance would also create a Constituency Advisory Board with staff support from the hospital will make recommendations to the new board of trustees.

The advisory board will meet at least quarterly.

The advisory board will be composed of 18 members, including:

• The Orangeburg County administrator

• The Calhoun County administrator

• The director of the Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center

• The director of the Tri-County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse

• The Orangeburg County director of the South Carolina Department of Social Services

• The Orangeburg County director of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice

• The Orangeburg County director of the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs

• The dean of Nursing, Health Sciences and Workforce Development of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College

• The dean of Nursing of Denmark Technical College

• The dean of Nursing of Claflin University

• The medical director of Family Health Centers

• The medical director of Hope Health in Orangeburg County

• The chief executive Officer of CASA Family Systems

• The research director of South Carolina State University 1890 Research and Extension

• The superintendent of the Orangeburg County Consolidated School District

• The superintendent of the Calhoun County School District

• The executive director of the Orangeburg County Development Commission

• The director of the Orangeburg County YMCA

The individual members of the advisory board would be able to delegate another individual to the advisory board so long as the designee is an executive or manager with decision-making authority and has knowledge of health care needs and workforce development within the organization, according to the ordinance.