Charleston VA to break ground on new Myrtle Beach
On Friday, May 31 at 10 a.m., Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center is scheduled to break ground on its new Myrtle Beach VA Outpatient Clinic during a ceremony at the site’s location at 1800 Airpark Drive, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, retired U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, will provide the keynote address at the ceremony.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth in our patient population in the Myrtle Beach area in the past several years,” said Charleston VA Director and CEO Scott Isaacks. “With this new lease, we’ll be able to consolidate services, add additional specialty care and serve our Veterans in a beautiful space befitting their sacrifice.”
The $13.8 million Myrtle Beach VA Outpatient Clinic lease will provide 84,000 net usable square feet and will give ample space to expand existing services in the area. In addition to primary care and mental health services, the clinic will provide telehealth and tele-mental health, dermatology, podiatry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, prosthetics, optometry, audiology, compensation and pension, blood collection and an optical shop, as well as radiology services including general, CT, ultrasound, bone density and the capability to add MRI and other specialty care.
The consolidated Myrtle Beach clinic is one of two Charleston VAMC sites of care authorized for construction in the 2014 VA Choice Act, which awarded 28 leases for medical centers across the country. The other is for a clinical annex in North Charleston, which broke ground May 3.
Both facilities, the Myrtle Beach outpatient clinic and the North Charleston clinical care annex, seek to provide Veterans with quicker, more convenient access to Charleston VAMC’s high quality health care. The medical center is one of the fastest growing VAMCs in the U.S. with 4.4% growth rate in fiscal year 2018 (FY18). Charleston VAMC provides care for approximately 78,000 Veterans along the South Carolina and Georgia coast. The current Myrtle Beach clinic and annex locations cumulatively served more than 13,500 Veteran patients in FY18.
Future growth has been a top consideration during planning for the Myrtle Beach VA clinic. The new location will have room for a total of 20 primary care teams, with each team holding a panel of 900 to 1,200 Veteran patients. The clinic also plans to have a separate women’s health area and designated clinical rooms to best accommodate the needs of the VA’s expanding female population.
The Myrtle Beach VA Outpatient Clinic is projected to begin seeing its first patients in 2021 following build out and activation.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Maj. Gen. Livingston’s keynote remarks will be preceded by remarks from City of Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune and Charleston VAMC Director and CEO Scott Isaacks. The event is open to the public and there will be parking onsite. For more information visit the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center’s website www.charleston.va.gov.