Located on Okatie Center Blvd. North, the brand-new, three-story facility will allow south-of-the-Broad residents to see specialists in obstetrics and gynecology, orthopaedics, cardiology, gastroenterology, general surgery, vascular surgery, pulmonology and neurology in their own backyard, rather than make the 30- to 45-minute drive to the main hospital campus in Beaufort. They can even make in-person and telemedicine appointments with subspecialists from MUSC Health.
Lab work, X-rays, CT scans and MRIs can also be performed in the sprawling 70,000-square-foot facility located at 122 Okatie Center Boulevard North. Inside the complex is a full-service laboratory and imaging center as well as a breast health center where you can go for your annual mammogram, bone density screenings and diagnostic mammography and ultrasounds. Add to that a full-service cancer center, offering both medical and radiation oncology.
“This is the next step in an aggressive capital improvement plan to meet the growing need for health care in an area with an exploding population,” said BMH President and CEO Russell Baxley. “By making these services more accessible, we hope to improve the health of the community, meeting our mission as Beaufort County’s only nonprofit hospital.”
Since he took the reins of BMH four years ago, Baxley has focused on expanding access to primary care, recognizing the critical role it plays in slowing the epidemic of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity in a county with high rates of all three chronic conditions.
Okatie Medical Pavilion will feature a full-time primary care practice as well as the hospital’s third Express Care & Occupational Health, offering same-day appointments seven days a week for minor injuries and illnesses like flu, strep throat, urinary tract infections, diarrhea, lacerations, and sprains and strains. The walk-in clinic will also provide immunizations, lab services, x-rays, and physical assessments for school, sports and camps.
In addition, its providers will treat workplace injuries and perform employee physical exams, drug and alcohol testing and cholesterol and blood pressure screenings for companies enrolled in the Beaufort Memorial Well at Work program.
Among other services offered in the medical pavilion are outpatient and cardiac rehabilitation and a memory center for the care of dementia patients.
BMH broke ground on the new 19-acre center in May 2019, nearly 13 years after launching its first venture in Bluffton. The pavilion will replace the multispecialty offices of Bluffton Medical Services that have been expanded over the years in the Westbury Park office complex near the intersection of US 278 and Buck Island Road.
The Okatie Medical Pavilion is the second facility BMH has opened in southern Beaufort County in just over a year. May River Medical Pavilion opened in September 2019 in a renovated 7,000-square-foot building on Burnt Church Road. The medical plaza features both immediate and primary care.
For more information on the Okatie Medical Pavilion or any of its services, please visit BeaufortMemorial.org/OkatieMedicalPavilion.
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Cancer Care Close to Home
In partnership with MUSC Health and Alliance Oncology, Beaufort Memorial Hospital (BMH) opens its second full-service cancer center this month in the new Okatie Medical Pavilion, bringing cancer care closer to home for patients south of the Broad River.
The New River Cancer Center will provide radiation and medical oncology, chemotherapy and infusion services along with access to clinical trials and consultations with subspecialists experienced in treating rare or complex cancer.
With laboratory and imaging services also located inside the 70,000-square-foot pavilion, patients can receive the entire spectrum of cancer care from diagnosis to treatment.
“That’s the biggest strength of a facility like this,” said board-certified radiation oncologist Dr. Paul A. Saconn, who recently joined the BMH medical staff to work in the new cancer center. “Having all of a cancer patient’s physicians under one roof provides cohesiveness of care.”
Previously affiliated with cancer programs in Beaufort County, North Carolina and West Virginia, Dr. Saconn brings a wealth of experience in the field of radiation oncology. Joining him on the team of cancer specialists is board-certified medical oncologist Dr. Stephen Tiley, who comes to the Lowcountry from Vidalia, Georgia, where he served seven years on the staff at Meadows Regional Cancer Center.
Like the Keyserling Cancer Center on the main hospital campus, the New River center is equipped with a state-of-the-art intensity-modulated radiation therapy system. The Halcyon™ Linear Accelerator allows radiation oncologists to target tumors with extraordinary accuracy while providing a quieter, more comfortable treatment process for the patient.
