NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Medical staff got a first look inside the development of the future Roper Hospital Medical Campus in North Charleston on Wednesday.
Dozens of representatives from several clinical departments gave their input in mock rooms for the new hospital design and conducted real-time reviews of the setup.
“This is the first opportunity that we’ve had to actually just see it on paper, but be able to walk the space,” said Marcela McGeorge, Director of Emergency Services.
“They are the experts at what they do so we have lots of architects and engineers and builders who are involved in the design of the campus, but really we want our clinicians and experts to think of we can put it on a drawing and it looks great, but getting them into the room and having them feel everything is really where we get to avoid having to change anything once we build the hospital,” said Charles Fletcher, vice president of Real Estate Construction.
There are a total of seven mock rooms. McGeorge said something as simple as the placement of a light switch or the oxygen or medical air make a huge difference.
“You have to think over scenarios like you know a regular patient but then a critical patient that may need a ventilator. They may know if the power goes out we have to switch over to emergency power,” said McGeorge.
The hospital is currently in the design and development phase. The goal is to have the hospital done by Summer 2029, but you could see construction progress on the first site, the old city hall, as early as January.
“The total budget for this project is about 1.2 billion dollars so you want to make sure you get it right because every dollar counts. We want to make sure we maximize every dollar for our patients,” said Fletcher.
Fletcher said the patient and family council will also have an opportunity to go through the rooms and give their input, adding that the patient’s needs come first.
After more than 150 years in downtown Charleston, Roper St. Francis Healthcare announced in November 2022 the move of its flagship hospital to a new medical campus with expanded outpatient services. The project will be located on a 27-acre parcel near Interstates 26 and 526.
The new location aims to better serve their counties in a more central location and be less impacted by the challenges of flooding the current hospital faces.
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First look at future Roper Hospital Medical Campus
