Beaufort Memorial Hospital celebrated the completion of the steel structure for its new three-story Okatie medical office building with a “topping off” ceremony last week. About 100 local officials, hospital staff, board, and physicians – as well as the all important construction crew – were on hand for the ceremony on the site of the new facility on Okatie Center Blvd. near Sun City.

Following a long-standing builders’ tradition, those involved in the project signed the last beam which was hoisted to the top by crane, along with a small tree and an American flag.

Construction of the 70,000-square-foot Okatie Medical Pavilion began in May 2019 and is scheduled to be completed late this year. Once open, it will provide residents of southern Beaufort and Jasper counties more convenient access to a variety of medical services and specialties, from primary care to cancer treatment. Sub-specialists from MUSC Health will also have offices there.

“This is a big milestone for us, marking our most significant increase in health care services south of the Broad,” Beaufort Memorial Hospital President and CEO Russell Baxley said in a release. “This facility will help ease the demand for medical services in an area that has experienced a huge influx of new residents.”

<i>Above: Beaufort Memorial CEO Russell Baxley signs the last beam at Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s new Okatie Medical Pavilion. Photo by Paul Nurnberg.</i>