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<p>Turning its plan to expand medical services south of the Broad into action, Beaufort Memorial broke ground earlier this week on its new medical office building at Okatie Crossing in Okatie.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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<p>The 70,000-square-foot, three-story medical office building will stand on a 19-acre parcel owned by the hospital. It will offer residents of southern Beaufort and Jasper counties access to a variety of medical services and specialties.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Besides full-time primary care, OB-GYN, orthopaedics and urgent care practices and regularly scheduled clinics for specialists in cardiology, gastroenterology, general surgery, vascular surgery and neurology, the building will include Beaufort Memorial’s second full-service cancer center. A partnership with MUSC Health and Alliance Oncology, the cancer center will provide radiation oncology, medical oncology, chemotherapy and infusion services.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>In addition, the medical office building will house a breast health center, outpatient rehabilitation and laboratory and imaging services. Subspecialists from MUSC Health will provide in-person and telemedicine consultations there as well.</p>
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<p>“As the county’s hospital we are committed to our mission to improve the health of the community, and that includes our patients in southern Beaufort and Jasper counties,” said BMH CEO Russell Baxley. “We are excited to break ground for our medical office building in Okatie and to expand medical services for all area residents.”</p>
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<p>The building, which will replace Beaufort Memorial’s existing multispecialty offices in Westbury Park, is the first of three facilities the hospital plans to develop in the greater Bluffton and Okatie areas. It has received state approval for a 20-bed micro hospital—the first in the state—near the corner of Buckwalter and Bluffton parkways, with completion expected in 2021. This fall it will open a combined express care, occupational health and primary care practice off U.S. 278 at 1 Burnt Church Road.</p>
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<p>The medical office building is scheduled to open in late 2020. Hammes Company will manage the project, whose team also comprises Novus Architects and M.B. Kahn Construction.</p>
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