By DENNIS QUICK
Senior Staff Writer

With the Lowcountry’s general population increasing and baby boomers approaching their senior years, the demand for more medical services is triggering an explosion of employment opportunities in the region’s health care industry, executives at Roper St. Francis Healthcare and the Medical University of South Carolina’s Medical Center say. Friendly competitors, Roper St. Francis, with 594 beds, and MUSC Medical Center, with 596 beds, are growing along the same health care avenues. Both are building new downtown hospitals to house cardiovascular and heart treatment services—Roper St. Francis a $77 million, 250,000-square-foot facility scheduled to open in 2006, MUSC a $300 million, 265,000-square-foot facility slated for completion in 2008. Roper St. Francis’ new facility will have 148 beds, all replacing existing beds. MUSC’s new hospital will provide 156 beds, some of which replace beds. Cardiovascular, emergency department and outpatient services are the primary directions in which the health care rivals will expand during the next five years. Both MUSC and Roper St. Francis foresee a hiring need leading to an increase in their local economic impact. MUSC’s Medical Center employment numbers rose from nearly 3,860 in fiscal 2001 to about 4,330 in fiscal 2005. During the same period, the health care provider’s total economic impact on the Charleston area jumped from $461 million to $612 million. By fiscal 2010, the Medical Center’s employment roster should reach nearly 4,650 while its economic impact should hit $818 million, MUSC projects. MUSC’s outpatient visits have risen from more than 573,380 in fiscal 2001 to 667,660 in fiscal 2005 and projects that number to reach 799,230 by fiscal 2010. Roper St. Francis Health Care, which has more than 3,800 employees, annually hires between 500 and 600 employees, some as replacements for departing workers, others as new hires for new jobs, according to the health care provider’s human resources department. Although officials say future programs and facilities will require more hiring, they add that exact hiring projections for 2010 are difficult to make, as are economic impact projections. The health care system’s total economic impact on the Lowcountry in 2003 was $674 million, according to Roper St. Francis’ latest figures. Officials conservatively project the economic impact to grow 5% to 7% annually. Along with the tourism and construction industries, health care will help fuel a 3% job growth in the Lowcountry for 2005, notes economist Donald L. Schunk of the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business. “Health care will be the career choice for the next decade,” says David Dunlap, Roper St. Francis Healthcare’s chief executive. He adds that doctors, nurses, technicians and a variety of other health care personnel will be needed to meet the industry’s future demands. “There will be no let up in demand in the health care industry, so it will be a very good place to find work,” adds Stuart Smith, executive director of MUSC’s Medical Center. New construction projects reflect Roper St. Francis’ growth. In addition to housing cardiovascular services, the new $77 million hospital will contain a center for outpatient surgery, an expanding field encompassing some 70% of all Roper St. Francis services, says Dunlap. The $24 million, 63-bed expansion of Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, to begin in 2006 and be completed in 2008, will bring the hospital’s bed total to 204, enabling it to serve a Lowcountry population expected to increase by 53,500 come 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of inpatients treated at the West Ashley facility has already increased 11% over the past five years. A recently opened 11,000-square-foot emergency room at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital and a forthcoming 3,000-square-foot expansion of Roper Northwoods’ emergency department are part of Roper St. Francis’ efforts to broaden and upgrade its emergency services. The new $77 million hospital also will have an emergency department. To bring health care services to new residential developments rising throughout the Lowcountry, Roper St. Francis will add to its nearly 20 freestanding diagnostic facilities, although it is difficult to say how many of these new facilities will be built, Dunlap states. Additionally, Dunlap sees Roper St. Francis concentrating on more cancer treatment and research. He points out that cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States. MUSC also will expand its cancer treatment and its neurological and pediatric services, says Smith. In addition to providing cardiovascular services, the new $300 million hospital will provide digestive disease treatment. He adds that MUSC also is considering building more freestanding facilities around the Charleston area. “We’re looking at trying to better distribute our services throughout the community,” Smith says. MUSC has recently completed or is on the verge of completing major expansion projects. The $36 million, 121,000-square-foot Charles P. Darby Children’s Research Institute opened Feb. 10. Touted as one of 15 such facilities in the nation, the Children’s Research Institute will foster the prevention and cure of childhood disorders such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, cancer and nutritional deficiencies, plus heart and bone diseases. The $31.5 million, 112,000-square-foot expansion of the Hollings Cancer Center is scheduled for completion in late summer. The project, which includes 34,500 square feet of renovations, will consolidate all of MUSC’s cancer research programs. Both MUSC and Roper St. Francis are hoping to tackle the Lowcountry’s nurse shortage. South Carolina had a shortage of 5,000 nurses in 2003 and could need as many as 15,000 by 2015, according to the S.C. Hospital Association’s latest figures. “More nursing students are coming through MUSC and through Charleston Southern University,” notes Dunlap. “We’re doing better, but the need is still great.” Dennis Quick covers health and wellness for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@crbj.com.

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