Medical Center Project Will Add 300 Jobs

An expansion project at Summerville Medical Center will bring 300 jobs to the area, according to center officials.

The center will invest $26 million to add the beds, convert 18 semi-private rooms to private rooms, and expand labor and delivery rooms. Plans include a three-story patient tower that will be connected to the existing hospital on each level. Construction will take about three years to complete.

"Because of the growth we have seen in this town and in this county, we feel like we are poised for our first expansion since we opened in 1989," center CEO Louis Caputo said June 8 during a town council meeting at town hall.

"We have started to see capacity issues at the hospital in the future … (and) we have to start planning now."

Jobs expected to be created by the project include 50 jobs within the facility and 250 construction jobs — all "high-paying jobs," according to Caputo.

“The project will lay the foundation for future development of services as the community continues to grow,” Caputo said.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control deemed the application complete June 1. Over the next four months, the department will review the application and make a decision on the center's Certificate of Need.

Summerville Medical Center is a 94-bed, acute care hospital located in the Oakbrook section of Summerville between Ladson and Trolley Roads, and is part of the HCA hospital system and a facility of Trident Medical Center.