In flood-prone Charleston, a historic downtown hospital decides it must move
A South Carolina hospital system that for the last 165 years has cared for the sick and injured on the low-lying Charleston peninsula announced that it is moving to higher ground.
Roper St. Francis Healthcare said Wednesday that it must relocate its flagship hospital from its current downtown location so that patients can “more easily access care closer to where they live and work.”
The health system also said in its 10-year strategic plan that the hospital needs to be in a building that is “upgraded to better withstand natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.”
Roper Hospital is located on Calhoun Street in Charleston’s flood-prone medical mile, where chronic flooding impacts three major health systems: Roper St. Francis, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and the Medical University of South Carolina, the region’s only Level I trauma center.
Though Roper Hospital has not said yet where it plans to go, its departure marks the first evacuation from Charleston’s medical district.
“Who we are has always been more important than where we are,” Roper St. Francis CEO Dr. Jeffrey DiLisi said in a video published on the health system’s website.
The soon-to-be-announced building will be the fourth location for Roper Hospital since it opened downtown in 1856. DiLisi said in a statement that he expects to announce the new Roper Hospital location in the coming weeks.
“Today, I make this promise that whether you live in downtown Charleston or the farthest reaches of Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston counties, Roper St. Francis Healthcare will be a short drive away to serve your health care needs,” DiLisi said. “This strategic plan serves as our beacon to making primary and specialty care services more convenient for all of the communities we serve.”
The decision by Roper Hospital to move off the peninsula is the latest and one of the most dramatic examples of how climate change is impacting this coastal port city, which last year saw a record number of high-tide flooding and is currently in the process of building a sea wall to keep out storm surge.
The city has also had a change of heart when it comes to allowing residents to elevate their historic homes.
While moving Roper Hospital off the peninsula is a “focal point” of the Roper St. Francis Healthcare 2030 plan, the health system on Wednesday also announced other changes ahead.
It plans to expand its Berkeley County Hospital, upgrade its electronic medical records system and expand its medical services to growing parts of the region.
For example, this week, the health system said it has purchased property near the corner of Johnnie Dodds Boulevard and Mathis Ferry Road in Mount Pleasant.
The town of Mount Pleasant, located just east of peninsular Charleston over the iconic Arthur Ravenel Bridge, has seen its population grow by nearly 33% in the last decade, according to the latest 2020 Census data. It is now the fourth-largest place in South Carolina, based on population estimates, right behind North Charleston.
Even as Roper Hospital charts its departure from the peninsula, other health systems have continued to build downtown. Last year, right next to Roper Hospital, MUSC opened its Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital.
However, both the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and MUSC have also expanded their footprints beyond the Charleston peninsula.
In recent years, the Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina has looked to expand its physical footprint around the state, with plans in Indian Land, Berkeley County and Kingstree. The most recent expansion effort included the purchase of two hospitals in the Midlands — Columbia-based Providence Hospital and Camden’s Kershaw Health Medical Center.
In 2019, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center opted to move its primary care off the peninsula and cited frequent downtown flooding as one of the reasons driving the decision.
At this time, it is not known how much Roper’s 2030 strategic plan will cost or how the health system plans to pay for it.
But in a prepared statement, Dr. Brian Cuddy, a neurosurgeon and chairman of the Roper St. Francis Healthcare Board of Directors, projected optimism about the big move ahead.
“Our 2030 strategic plan is bold, ambitious and, together, it’s possible,” he said.
Hours after Roper’s announcement, the city of Charleston issued a warning to its citizens.
Major tidal flooding is expected starting Thursday in low-lying areas of the city during morning high tides, which are expected to exceed 8 feet Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
In a statement, Charleston Emergency Management Director Shannon Scaff urged residents to “make a plan for your morning commute, leave yourself extra driving time and remember to ‘turn around, don’t drown.’”
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 2:57 PM.
