MUSC Health Orangeburg shares future directions at “It’s a New Day Café”

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ORANGEBURG, S.C. – It’s a new day for health care in Orangeburg, Calhoun, and Bamberg counties, and MUSC Health Orangeburg celebrated these next steps at the “It’s a New Day Cafe” on Thursday, June 22.

The event offered attendees a first look at the “It’s a New Day” video featuring Orangeburg, Calhoun, and Bamberg counties residents and an opportunity to hear from members of the health system’s senior leadership team.

Guest speakers Walter Bennett III, CEO, and Sem Ganthier, DHSc, Executive Director of Operations, highlighted MUSC Health Orangeburg’s recently added capabilities and future expansions of services, including oncology and sports medicine. These expansions enable residents of Orangeburg and neighboring areas to receive essential services close to home.

This week, MUSC Health Orangeburg’s cardiology team successfully conducted its first percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as treatment for a ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Residents of the area have undergone elective PCI procedures at MUSC Health Orangeburg, but this week marks the first emergent case handled locally.

Since its first patient on January 23, the PCI team has performed 46 angioplasty procedures, 23 intravascular ultrasounds, and nine fractional flow reserve tests. None of these procedures were available at the Orangeburg campus before the program’s inception. With the program now accepting emergent cardiac cases, not only are patients able to schedule elective procedures closer to home, but transportation time for suspected heart attack patients is greatly reduced.

MUSC Health Orangeburg plans to expand existing services and actively recruit new providers. Additional priorities include investing in training opportunities for care team members and hospital leaders and increasing community outreach by partnering with local organizations and universities.

First established as a private hospital in 1919, MUSC Health Orangeburg has grown into a regional health care system with a 286-bed acute care hospital and 22 medical practices. The hospital system has 89 providers, over 1,400 employees, and 25 volunteers.

MUSC Health Orangeburg’s network includes seven primary care practices in Orangeburg, Calhoun, and Bamberg counties; express care locations in Orangeburg and Santee; Bamberg-Barnwell Emergency Medical Center; specialty practices in cardiology, endocrinology, general surgery, urology, behavioral health, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, and orthopaedics; a breast health center with mobile mammography capabilities; vein and vascular services; outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy locations; and five fitness centers.

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy – and trains more than 900 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $298 million in research funds in fiscal year 2022, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding, with more than $220 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 16 hospitals (includes owned and equity stake),with approximately 2,700 beds and four additional hospital locations in development; more than 350 telehealth sites and connectivity to patients’ homes; and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2022, for the eighth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $5.1 billion. The nearly 26,000 MUSC family members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research and patient care.