The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has received approval for its Certificate of Need (CON) to build a new hospital in Berkeley County. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) granted the approval. DHEC is the state body that must issue a CON before certain types of health care acquisitions, expansions and creation of new facilities are allowed.

MUSC Health Community Hospital at Nexton will be a 311,221-square-foot facility with 128 beds, to provide a range of specialized inpatient and outpatient services. Estimated at a cost of $325 million, the project is expected to be operational in 2022. One of the area’s newest planned communities, Nexton is located in Summerville at the crossroads of I-26 and 17A in the path of metro Charleston’s vigorous growth.

“The Nexton hospital will be a much-needed addition to our health care system,” said MUSC President Dr. David J. Cole. “Our network of MUSC hospitals, clinics, and other care facilities is positioned to provide patients with the right care, at the right time and in the right location. As the only publicly assisted, comprehensive, statewide academic medical center, MUSC has a mission and responsibility unlike any other health care facility in South Carolina. We are charged with discovering, developing, teaching, and delivering the most advanced health care for every patient across the state.”   

“We are committed to delivering top-quality care and increased access to every patient,” said Dr. Patrick J. Cawley, MUSC Health CEO and vice president for Health Affairs, University. “To achieve this goal, we must position our health care network in synchronicity with the energetic growth of the greater Charleston community.”

Previously, the state health plan identified the need for 147 additional MUSC beds to serve the tri-county area (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties), based on MUSC’s existing hospital occupancy and fill rates. MUSC Health Community Hospital at Nexton is designed to meet many of the increasing health care demands by bringing consistent, high quality, and compassionate care to a convenient, neighborhood location.