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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – One of the Lowcountry’s leading hospitals is set to construct a new medical campus in the heart of North Charleston.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare announced Wednesday it will invest $1 billion to build a new Roper Hospital Medical Campus at the site of the former North Charleston City Hall off Mall Drive.

The campus will occupy 27 acres near I-26 and I-526 which leaders say will make the hospital and its services easily accessible for patients who live in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties.

Roper announced in November 2021 that it planned to move off the Charleston peninsula, a move they said would allow patients to “easily access care closer to where they live and work.”

North Charleston’s Finance Committee voted in favor of selling the former city hall building to Roper Hospital on Tuesday evening. City Council then approved the sale in a brief meeting afterward.

“It was a deal we are all proud of. The hospital is something we need. It’s going to bring thousands of jobs. They’re moving the whole campus to North Charleston and that’s a good thing,” said Mayor Pro Tem and City Councilman Jerome Heyward.

“This new medical campus will be a paradigm for providing healthcare, whether that’s complex surgeries in a hospital or an annual checkup in an outpatient office,” said Dr. Jeffrey DiLisi, president and chief executive officer of Roper St. Francis Healthcare. “We made the bold decision one year ago to move Roper Hospital, and I’m grateful to our North Charleston partners for breathing life into this dream. This new campus will ensure our ability to continue delivering the quality care that’s been the hallmark of our brand for generations.”

Roper’s leaders say the new medical campus is expected to include a full-service acute care hospital with a 24-hour Emergency Room. It will also have a medical office building where myriad outpatient and specialty care will be offered.

“We welcome Roper St. Francis Healthcare to the North Charleston hub of economic development,” said North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey. “The new Roper Hospital Medical Campus is the next exciting chapter of this healthcare system’s 167-year legacy, and I am honored that the third largest city in South Carolina can host this tremendous benefit for our citizens.”

The new campus will be the fourth location for Roper Hospital since it opened downtown in 1856. Leaders say it will be technologically and structurally upgraded to better withstand natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.

Construction is likely to take up to five years. Important services will continue to be offered on the peninsula to “remain convenient to those in need downtown.”

Three dozen airmen are set to receive the U.S. Air Force’s highest award for heroism while participating in aerial flight at a Monday morning ceremony.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Three dozen airmen are set to receive the U.S. Air Force’s highest award for heroism while participating in aerial flight at a Monday morning ceremony.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan will present the award to 51 men and women, the highest number ever presented at a single ceremony in decades.

Col. David Taylor, the Vice Commander of the 437th Airlift Wing, said the pilots are being recognized for their actions during Operation Allies Refuge, which was the evacuation of Afghanistan in August 2021, and the largest non-combatant evacuation operation in American history. He said there are so many recipients because of the number of missions the aircrews completed while evacuating Afghanistan.

For example, during one of the missions, a reserve crew had over 800 refugees on board, and during the flight, a baby was delivered on board, he said. Also, he said five of the crews were the very last C-17s to depart Afghanistan, experiencing extremely risky flying.

It’s not only pilots being awarded at Monday’s ceremony. Taylor said aircraft maintainers and loadmasters will also receive the honor for their bravery.

“We’re extremely proud of our airmen. This is a group of reservists and active-duty airmen that really went above and beyond what our nation asked them to do,” Taylor said. “And it is because of their expertise that allowed this mission to be successful. And I’m looking forward to pinning those metals are their chest.”

Among the group of recipients is Capt. Rhea McFarland, a pilot and training officer who will be the first African American female to receive a Distinguished Flying Cross. During Operations Allies Refuge, McFarland ensured a successful evacuation of refugees and as one of the last aircraft to depart Kabul, supported the withdrawal of military personnel, the base said.

Taylor said they flew the recipients into Charleston, where they were stationed at the time of the mission, to receive their awards.

Base officials said they will be posting updates of the ceremony online on social media including the Joint Base Charleston Facebook page.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare will build a new campus in North Charleston that will include a new hospital and office building.

The $1 billion Roper Hospital Medical Campus in North Charleston will occupy 27-acres near interstates 26 and 526 and be easily accessible for patients living in Berkeley, Charleston or Dorchester counties, according to a Roper release.

The project will be one of the largest, most advanced health care construction projects on the East Coast and will meet the health care needs of one of the fastest growing areas in the country.

“This new medical campus will be a paradigm for providing healthcare, whether that’s complex surgeries in a hospital or an annual checkup in an outpatient office,” said Dr. Jeffrey DiLisi, president and chief executive officer of Roper St. Francis Healthcare, said in the release. “We made the bold decision one year ago to move Roper Hospital, and I’m grateful to our North Charleston partners for breathing life into this dream. This new campus will ensure our ability to continue delivering the quality care that’s been the hallmark of our brand for generations.”

The new Roper Hospital Medical Campus is expected to include a full-service acute care hospital with a 24-hour Emergency Room, the release stated. The campus also will have a Medical Office Building where a vast array of outpatient and specialty care will be provided. Roper St. Francis Healthcare has secured six premium real estate parcels off Mall Drive near North Charleston City Hall to build the campus.

In November 2021, DiLisi announced a roadmap for the next decade for the Lowcountry’s largest health care system for adults that centered on caring for more patients, expanding services and modernizing technology to better serve future generations, the release stated. One of the five key initiatives of that Roper St. Francis Healthcare 2030 plan was optimizing the health care system’s footprint in the Lowcountry, which also includes expanding Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital and providing additional health care services in highly populated and growing communities.

This new campus will be the fourth location for Roper Hospital since it opened downtown in 1856 and will be technologically and structurally upgraded to better withstand natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and earthquake, the release stated.

While construction may take up to five years, Roper St. Francis Healthcare will continue to offer services on the Charleston peninsula to remain convenient to those in need downtown, according to the release.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare has long maintained a strong presence in North Charleston, operating the Roper Hospital Diagnostics & ER – Northwoods, along with two Express Care locations and the Greer Transitions Clinic.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare hired E4H Environments for Health Architecture and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to design the new medical campus, the release stated. The partnership combines global design excellence with comprehensive health care planning and design expertise. These teams provide a combination of local knowledge and national thought leadership, which has facilitated innovations and transformations for clients such as New York-Presbyterian Hospital, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, and Egypt's New National Cancer Institute in Giza, one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

“E4H is honored to be a part of this landmark project for Roper St. Francis Healthcare and the community which it will serve. As a mission-driven organization focused on 100 percent healthcare design, we are dedicated to improving outcomes for patients, families, and caregivers. E4H is deeply inspired by the synergy between RSFH’s core values and our own,” said Jeremy Bartz, partner at E4H, in the release. “Starting with a systemwide strategic masterplan that will provide key insight into critical needs across the community, E4H and SOM will design a new medical campus that will set the standard for healthcare in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.”

NORTH CHARLESTON — Elizabeth and Chris Fisher moved their glass recycling company into an old warehouse on the former Charleston Naval Base around 2006. They were expecting to be an integral part in the city’s plan for transforming the old military complex into a vibrant, mixed-use community along the Cooper River.

“We were going to be the place where Noisette people were going to bring their recycling,” said Elizabeth Fisher, referring to North Charleston’s massive Noisette master plan that sought to redevelop several hundred acres across the base. That plan, announced two decades ago, ended in foreclosure.

Now, more than 15 years since its arrival, Fisher Recycling is having to find a new home.

North Charleston is preparing to demolish the city-owned, 84,000-square-foot warehouse at 2750 Avenue B, home to Fisher and a handful of artisans and locally owned businesses, as part of a plan to transform the northern end of the base.

The Fishers, who relocated years ago from Mount Pleasant to Park Circle, have grown attached to the community, Elizabeth Fisher said. Additionally, the area is conveniently located near the bustling Interstate 526. The couple believes the city’s redevelopment plans will be a positive change for the community. They also acknowledged that the municipality has worked to help the recycling business find a new place to do business.

The couple just wishes they could stay in the neighborhood to be part of the upcoming change.

“It definitely is for the better for the city from a revenue standpoint,” Elizabeth Fisher said. “But I won’t sugarcoat it. I’d rather stay here.”

Fisher Recycling and several other locally owned businesses, including a bike shop, beverage and snack distributor, furniture maker and a carpenter, must vacate the warehouse by the end of January.

Locating a new space to do business has been challenging, particularly for those who want to remain in North Charleston, where rent and property values are becoming more expensive.

Property costs have risen dramatically over the past decade in the city’s Park Circle area, now a booming enclave of new apartments, restaurants, recreational spaces and single-family houses.

Additionally, industrial properties are becoming increasingly rare in North Charleston, long a haven for the manufacturing industry.

Near the former Navy complex the city is considering rezoning a handful of industrial parcels to general business, a decision that was met with opposition from several of the properties’ owners during the Oct. 10 Planning Commission meeting.

Chris Fisher said he plans to ask city officials at a committee meeting next month to allow one of the lots along Rivers Avenue to remain industrial so that the recycling business could use the site as its new home.

The city’s plans for the old base aren’t a surprise. Occupants on the northern end have known for years of the city’s intentions to revitalize that section of the complex.

Some companies have already moved. Others have remained, with some hoping that the Navy base redevelopment plans would continue to stall as they had for more than a decade.

But reality began to settle in last year when construction crews began installing the new, winding pedestrian bridge at Noisette Creek.

Businesses in the warehouse then received letters in June informing them of a Dec. 31 deadline, and that the city would not charge them rent for the remainder of the year, said city spokesman Ryan Johnson. The December deadline has since been extended to the end of January.

“It’s been no secret that the redevelopment was going to happen,” Johnson said.

The occupied warehouse sits beside an abandoned storage space that will also be demolished. Both are located at the foot of the bridge.

The city’s vision calls for the transformation of about 90 acres at the foot of the bridge to include a fishing pier along Noisette Creek, condos, restaurants, green space and possibly a water taxi. About 60 of those acres are owned by the city, while the rest is currently occupied by the federal government, a nonprofit and a brewery.

Charleston County privatized recycling collections this year to become more efficient and save money, but months of complaints about missed pick-ups soon followed.

Now, the county says collections have quickly improved since a Nov. 3 public meeting where council members vented their frustrations on a Republic Services executive.

Republic took over in June, replacing the county employees who used to run the routes and tip the blue bins full of paper, plastic and metal. It’s the same private company Berkeley County replaced in 2020 after complaints about poor garbage collection service.

In June and July the county issued statements about problems with the transition including missed pickups, and assured residents that staffers were working diligently to see that recycling is picked up as scheduled. But problems continued for months.

County Council members told a Republic executive at a Nov. 3 public meeting that they were running out of patience and the council chairman suggested part of their contract could be stripped away if things didn’t quickly improve.

“If this problem continues, if it’s not fixed right away, you’re looking at maybe us going out, bringing in some people, and revising the contract,” Chairman Teddie Pryor told Republic Services Area Vice President Brady Loesch.

“I think we’ve given them long enough,” Pryor said. “I’m just one of nine (County Council members), but I think we’ve given them long enough and it’s time to move on.”

Loesch told the council that Republic would add more routes, so each of the dozen or so routes in the county would have fewer stops.

“We’ve had our share of challenges at Republic and I’m here to own up to those where necessary,” he said.

Other council members said they’ve heard repeated complaints from constituents and that entire neighborhoods have been passed over on recycling collection days.

“This is a service our residents are passionate about,” Councilman Brantley Moody said. “All nine of us are getting blown up and I’m done with it.”

Just 15 days later on Nov. 18 some of the same council members said complaints have plunged and they are hopeful things have changed.

“We hauled them back in there and said ‘enough is enough’ and I think that’s what did it,” said Moody, who chairs the council’s Environmental Management Committee. “They have finished all of their routes every day since that meeting.”

That doesn’t mean some collections aren’t being missed, but the routes are being serviced on the days they are supposed to be. According to the county there were 781 collection misses recorded during the last two weeks of October, before the county meeting, and 381 during the weeks of Nov. 7 and Nov. 14.

In an unsigned statement Nov. 18, Republic Services said: “While Republic Services of Charleston had experienced some delays in recycling pickups, we believe we are making significant progress and are back on track with service.”

On Nov. 3 Loesch told the council that Republic had expected to be collecting recycling from 128,000 homes, but it turned out there were about 160,000, leaving them short of staff and equipment. Moody said the county’s partly to blame for the incorrect number, but Republic’s had since the start of June to adjust.

Moody and a spokesperson for the county said the county-employed drivers had known their areas without formal route maps. There was also a discrepancy in the route maps after the county obtained new routing software.

Moody said that during the past two week complaints plunged in his West Ashley district. Pryor said the same, for his North Charleston district. So did East Cooper Councilman Herb Sass.

“I’ve heard just one complaint in the last two weeks, and that’s a big improvement,” Sass said. “It’s going to take three or four months for us to understand if it’s really been fixed.”

Charleston County residents with recycling issues can contact the county in these ways:

Meanwhile, the county is doing a review of missed-pickup complaints.

The county’s contract with Republic calls for financial penalties for missed collections, but the county has realized the some of the missed collections it has recorded were not for just one property, but for entire subdivisions.

“All of the ones I sent in were captured as one (missed collection), but it was the entire subdivision,” Councilman Kylon Middleton said at the Nov. 3 meeting.

“There’s no incentive for them to catch up” if they don’t have to pay for the missed collections, said Pryor, who directed the county staff to review the numbers.