MUSC opens South Carolina’s first ER-urgent care center

MUSC Health-Midlands, in partnership with Dallas-based Intuitive Health, has opened what it calls the state’s first combined emergency and urgent care facility.

MUSC Health Emergency and Urgent Care-Garners Ferry is located at 7620 Garners Ferry Road, just off Interstate 77. The 12,484-square-foot facility is part of MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown and features a 24/7 on-site laboratory and radiology services, including X-ray, ultrasound and a 64-slice CT scanner, according to a news release. The facility also accommodates EMS and ambulances.

“For too long, residents of southeast Columbia and the Lower Richland area needed to drive a long way just to reach an emergency room,” MUSC Health-Midlands Division Matt Littlejohn said in the news release. “This facility changes that. It’s a meaningful step toward ensuring that everyone in this community has access to emergency care where they live.”

Upon arrival, patients will be evaluated by emergency-trained providers who will determine the appropriate level of care, either emergency or urgent, according to MUSC Health. Patients are then billed only for the level of care they receive, eliminating the stress of deciding where to seek care and concerns about unexpected bills.

“Our mission has always been to bring the right care to our patients at the right price, and our partnership with MUSC does exactly that,” Intuitive Health founder and Chief Medical Officer Jay Woody, M.D., said in the release. “South Carolinians deserve access to care that is convenient, compassionate and transparent, and we are proud to help make that a reality for this community.”

The Garners Ferry opening is part of a broader collaboration across South Carolina between MUSC Health and Intuitive Health, the release stated. The two organizations opened a freestanding emergency room on Kiawah Island in December, and additional combined emergency and urgent care facilities are currently under construction in Florence, Summerville and West Ashley in Charleston.

“We are committed to ensuring that every South Carolinian, no matter where they live, has access to the care they need, when they need it,” said Dr. Patrick J. Cawley, CEO of MUSC Health and executive vice president for Health Affairs, University. “The opening of this facility is a reflection of that commitment, and with several more locations underway across the state, we are just getting started.”

Within the Midlands, major renovations are also underway at MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown Emergency Department, and two new primary care facilities are planned: one at the corner of Forest Drive and Trenholm Road and another on Knox Abbott Drive. Both are expected to open in the fall.

Founded in 2008, Intuitive Health pioneered the combined emergency room and urgent care model, according to the release. Intuitive Health partners with established health systems nationwide to build, operate and launch retail health care facilities that provide urgent care and emergency room services under one roof.