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Roper St. Francis moving on $10M project
By Molly Parker
Staff Writer
Roper St. Francis is poised to apply to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to relocate the Berkeley Ambulatory Surgery Center from Moncks Corner to its new facility at Carnes Crossroads.
“This has always been the game plan. The thought behind it is that we’ve looked at the population patterns and feel that the Carnes Crossroads would be a better location because it is more centrally located within Berkeley County,” said hospital spokeswoman Tricia Crimminger.
The total project cost to relocate the three operating rooms from the county seat to Goose Creek is about $10 million, according to Roper’s legal notice announcing its plans to file for the DHEC Certificate of Need permit required for all large hospital projects.
The hospital, however, will not pick up all of that cost, said Doug Bowling, the hospital’s vice president for system development.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Cogdell Spencer Inc. plans to build a 40,000- to 45,000-square-foot medical office building, of which Roper would lease about 15,400 square feet.
DHEC requires Roper to include the cost of that portion of the building in its certificate, even though it will pay for the space through a normal lease agreement, Bowling said.
In late September, Roper, a nonprofit organization, announced plans to buy 66 acres of land near the intersection of U.S. Highway 17A and U.S. Highway 176 from The Daniel Island Co.
The planners behind Daniel Island are building a new live-work community at Carnes Crossroads on a 2,300-acre site that will include homes, apartments, businesses and schools.
Roper St. Francis was the first business to announce plans to move into the planned community. The hospital will lease the land to Cogdell Spencer for the building, and the developer will then lease the building space back to Roper, Bowling said.
The developers hope to break ground on the building as soon as possible, he said, but the timing will depend on if and how quickly DHEC issues Roper a Certificate of Need permit, required in South Carolina for all large medical expenses.
The operating center will be located on the first floor of the medical complex and include roughly $3 million in equipment and furnishings. Cogdell Spencer will rent the other two-thirds of the office to local doctors.
Roper will continue to operate an emergency room and medical offices in Moncks Corner.
Only the operating center is slated for relocation.
Molly Parker is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at mparker@scbiznews.com.
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