By Russell Baxley
Earlier in the spring, the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted a “State of the Community” presentation that highlighted key trends in this area: escalating supply costs, an aging population and a struggling workforce.
Beaufort Memorial is working to adapt to those trends, as well as combat some of the challenges that the healthcare industry is facing with innovative, smart solutions.
Looking at regional demographic data, economic highlights, the state of community service in the county, healthcare, housing and local government, a pattern has emerged across all these sectors: Beaufort County is growing rapidly, and the county’s population is aging.
What does that have to do with healthcare?
These factors have a material impact on the healthcare industry because as we age, we need more healthcare, and we need more people to join the workforce.
Right now, at the national level, it’s an extremely busy and uncertain time in healthcare.
Healthcare accounts for almost 19% of the nation’s GDP, and that number continues to grow. At the federal level, proposed cuts to funding affecting national healthcare agencies could pose some real challenges for the industry, trickling down to the state and local levels.
Other changes at the federal level include the uncertainty of physician payment cuts and insurance adjustments, and tariffs that have the potential to alter the healthcare landscape.
Beaufort Memorial sources many supplies from other countries, and tariffs have the potential to increase our supply cost by as much as 15-20%.
So, how is Beaufort Memorial working at a local level to tackle some of the industry’s challenges?
Workforce development
Locally, Beaufort Memorial has recognized for years that the population of the Lowcountry is growing, and that increased demand for high-quality, patient-first care means recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce.
Statistically, South Carolina is one of the worst states when it comes to population-to-physician ratio; based on our studies, our county is approximately 40 primary care providers short and approximately 70 specialists and surgeons short today.
The industry is also feeling a nursing shortage, as well as a shortage in support positions. The PATH program (People Achieving Their Highest) has an array of internal pathways for career advancement and has graduated 83 individuals since 2022. The program has also recently unveiled a collaboration with the Beaufort County School District and offers youth volunteer opportunities – all ways to strengthen the pipeline in career development for healthcare in the Lowcountry.
Beaufort Memorial has a workforce development plan that targets some of the big challenges to recruitment that the Lowcountry faces: childcare and affordable housing.
Beaufort Memorial cut the ribbon in November on its new on-campus location of the Learning Center, employer-subsidized childcare facility that offers an accessible, affordable and convenient option for staff members and their families.
In Bluffton, the hospital system is also nearing the groundbreaking of its first workforce housing development in partnership with Woda Cooper Companies, LiveWell Terrace by BMH. The project will include 120 residential units and be available to the public for rental.
Expanding access and our next steps
In May, Beaufort Memorial celebrated the groundbreaking of the Bluffton Community Hospital, a 28-bed, $103 million facility that will feature a full-service emergency department, imaging and laboratory services and a surgery center.
This addition of a second hospital will allow Bluffton patients to receive care closer to home, and for patients who live north of the Broad River, this shift will increase the availability of critical healthcare services at the hospital in Beaufort.
In addition to the Bluffton hospital, Beaufort Memorial has several other expansion projects underway or in their planning phases, including:
- Surgical Pavilion renovation and expansion;
- Addition of a Crisis Stabilization Unit within the Beaufort ER;
- Angiography suite renovation;
- May River Crossing Primary Care site (planned 5,000 square-foot medical office building, adding four primary care providers and 20 jobs to the May River community);
- Lady’s Island Internal Medicine renovation and Lowcountry Medical Group expansion; and
- Beaufort Memorial Emergency & Urgent Care on Hilton Head Island.
In embracing the growth of the area and taking action to expand critical healthcare access into convenient locations for all Beaufort Memorial patients, this organization is committed to transforming the way healthcare is delivered in the region.
Russell Baxley, MHA, is the President & CEO of Beaufort Memorial, leading the organization in expanding access to and improving the quality of care in the Lowcountry since 2016.
