WHY DO YOU THINK CHARLESTON HAS BECOME A REGIONAL MEDICAL HUB?
Charleston is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and local health care providers such as Roper St. Francis are doing all they can to meet patients’ needs. Some of the factors that have led to our national accolades include excellent patient safety and outcomes. For example, Truven Health just named Roper St. Francis a top 15 health system in the country for a fourth consecutive year, and all three of our hospitals were ranked among the top 100 hospitals in the country. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid recently awarded Roper Hospital and Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital with their coveted five-star rating, a distinction awarded to fewer than 3 percent of the nation’s hospitals, with our Mount Pleasant Hospital receiving a four-star rating based on outstanding quality and patient safety metrics.
IN WHAT AREAS DOES CHARLESTON AS A WHOLE AND YOUR HOSPITAL IN PARTICULAR EXCEL?
Roper St. Francis is the largest provider of adult health care in the Charleston area, so our areas of special expertise are broad. Our heart and vascular services are among the most respected in South Carolina. We provide care for more of the most common forms of cancer, including breast, colon, prostate and lung cancer, than any area provider. We are known for our excellent outcomes for orthopedic services, including our total joint replacement and spine surgery, and our Roper Rehabilitation Hospital is the only fully accredited physical medicine rehabilitation provider in the area.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR HOSPITAL/ SYSTEM’S PLACE IN THE LARGER CHARLESTON HEALTH CARE COMMUNITY?
Roper St. Francis is the Lowcountry’s only private, not-forprofit health system. Our mission is simple: Healing all people with compassion, faith and excellence. Our team has a specific focus on community outreach and putting patients first, a quality that earns us national awards in patient safety and satisfaction year after year. Our charitable mission is one of our highest priorities, as evidenced by the more than $50 million in benefits that we provide annually to our community.
HOW IS YOUR HOSPITAL MANAGING IN THE NEW NATIONAL HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENT?
We support the concept of health care coverage for all Americans. Although we all agree that South Carolina is a great place to live and work, we are one of the poorest states in the nation in terms of economic prosperity, and we have some of the nation’s highest rates of diabetes, obesity and unhealthy lifestyles. According to recent census data, 739,000 South Carolinians are uninsured, 111,000 of them in the tri-county. Providing care to this underserved segment of our population is a burden that all health care providers in our area must assume.
