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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007 6:56 AM

New medical facility planned
Busy area of James Island will get surgical, diagnostic center in 2008

BY KATY STECH

The Post and Courier

A new surgical and diagnostics center proposed for a busy stretch of James Island could bring medical care closer to home for residents in the growing suburban community.

Officials at Roper St. Francis Healthcare are planning to build a $5 million facility at the site of Cross Creek Square, a shopping center on Folly Road near Maybank Highway that is set to be redeveloped.

The medical facility, scheduled to open in the summer of 2008, will help satisfy demand for health care services in an area that is expected to boom in coming years, Roper officials said.

"We see this as a real growth area," said Douglas Bowling, vice president of system development.

About 60 physicians see patients at offices within 1.5 miles of the site, a market statistic that helped Roper St. Francis pick the Cross Creek location, Bowling said.

Those physicians could send their patients to the facility for diagnostic testing and might even be able to perform surgery there, he said. They could also refer their patients to surgeons who work at the facility.

The 15,000-square-foot surgical center will have two operating rooms that could handle basic procedures in specialties such as podiatry and orthopedics. The diagnostic center, which will measure between 4,000 and 5,000 square feet, will offer basic testing services from scans to X-rays to lab work.

The center will mean a lot to the growing number of patients who live on James Island, Johns Island and Folly Beach, said Shanon Honney, a physician in private practice at Charleston Internal Medicine on Folly Road.

Many of her patients, especially the older ones, don't like to travel downtown for health care because of the traffic and extra travel time, she said.

"I don't know what it is about the islands, but people who live out here don't like to leave it," she said.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control approved the project's certificate of need in October.

Officials expect the medical center to host about 2,000 surgical procedures in its first year.

The new center will occupy one of several new buildings expected to replace the Cross Creek shopping center.

Design plans show that the 500,000-square-foot area eventually will be redeveloped to combine residences, retail stores, offices and park space.

The property is one of 24 sites the city has designated as "gathering places" under new zoning rules, said Christopher Morgan, director of Charleston's planning division.

"They're a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use center that has an urban village feel," Morgan said. "They're a real center of that portion of the city."

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.


This article was printed via the web on 2/27/2007 9:44:08 AM . This article
appeared in The Post and Courier and updated online at Charleston.net on Tuesday, February 27, 2007.

 
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2007 7:35 AM

United Way donors prove that $8,888,888.88 isn't enough

BY JESSICA JOHNSON
The Post and Courier

Everyday workers, Trident United Way volunteers, board and staff members did it again.

For the ninth straight year, 2006 donations broke Trident United Way's fundraising goal, bringing in $9 million.

Trident United Way tried to come up with a memorable goal: $8,888,888.88, said David Dunlap, CEO of Roper St. Francis Healthcare and chairman of the 2006 fundraising campaign. And tri-county residents offered more.

"It's a real statement of the generosity and support of a wonderful community," Dunlap said, "It's a tribute to the great volunteer leadership Trident United Way has assembled."

More than 35,000 people contributed to the campaign, giving an average of $250. Donations include 110 Alexis de Tocqueville Society member contributions, from people who give $10,000 or more, and 1,600 Palmetto Society members, who contribute $1,000 to $9,999.

High-dollar giving does its part to add to the fund, but most of the organization's donations come from workplace payroll gifts.

"It's really about the day-to-day workers, who are contributing payroll deductions, pulling out a percent of their pay every payday," Dunlap said.

Large gains have been seen in big donations and record-breaking fundraising since the 1990s. Ten years ago, the nonprofit brought in $3.8 million. And in 1998, the organization had just four Alexis de Tocqueville members.

David Nicole, Trident United Way's president of campaign, said volunteers work behind the scenes promoting the organization that filters donations to several others. Nicole said the decade of success is a direct result of volunteers' and board members' selling United Way's mission to solve community problems.

MeadWestvaco is the largest corporate supporter of Trident United Way, giving more than $625,000. The men and women of the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command made the largest employee contribution, $344,000.

On the Web
To find out more about Trident United Way, go to http://www.tuw.org/.

 

Reach Jessica Johnson at 745-5860 or jjohnson@postandcourier.com.


This article was printed via the web on 2/8/2007 8:45:01 AM . This article
appeared in The Post and Courier and updated online at Charleston.net on Friday, February 02, 2007.