Florence residents will soon have a new option for emergency and urgent medical care, as MUSC Health prepares to open a combined facility near Interstate 95 and the Florence Soccer Complex. The center is designed to let patients walk in for either a minor injury or a full-blown emergency, with imaging and lab services available on site.
According to WPDE, MUSC Health held a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Florence Medical Center on Monday, describing it as the system's expanded push to bring immediate medical care to the Pee Dee region. WPDE reported the facility is a partnership between MUSC Health Florence Medical Center and Intuitive Health, and that it is expected to begin seeing patients November 18.
MUSC's own location page for the center confirms it operates as part of MUSC Health Emergency and Urgent Care, with the Florence site planned for 1074 S Soccer Way and built to handle both emergency care and walk-in urgent care under one roof. Separately, WBTW had reported the hybrid facility was slated to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, housing both an urgent care center and an emergency department, and placed the site on W. Palmetto Street near Interstate 95 and the Florence Soccer Complex.
What the Facility Offers
WPDE reported the Florence Medical Center is planned to provide 24/7 access to emergency and urgent care, along with on-site laboratory services, X-rays, ultrasound and CT imaging. That matches earlier reporting from the same station describing the planned emergency department as including a CT scanner, X-ray, ultrasound, respiratory therapy and a full functioning lab.
WPDE reported the center is MUSC Health's first emergency room and urgent care facility in the Pee Dee region, and its third such facility in South Carolina. Jason Cox, CEO of the MUSC Health Pee Dee Division, said the center improves access on Florence's western side and that his team was working to open it November 18, according to the same report.
Part of a Broader Rollout Across South Carolina
Florence's project fits into a larger statewide expansion for MUSC Health. The system had said as of June that additional combined emergency and urgent care facilities were under construction in Florence, Summerville and West Ashley in Charleston, according to MUSC. WBTW's earlier reporting described Florence as the second of eight planned hybrid facilities for MUSC Health across South Carolina, following the opening of the first in Columbia.
That first facility, MUSC Health Emergency and Urgent Care-Garners Ferry, cut the ribbon on June 18 as what MUSC called the state's first combined emergency and urgent care facility, a partnership with Intuitive Health. The Columbia location is 12,484 square feet and features a 24/7 on-site laboratory and radiology services, including X-ray, ultrasound and a 64-slice CT scanner, per MUSC's announcement.
At Garners Ferry, emergency-trained providers assess patients to determine whether they need emergency or urgent care, with patients then billed only for the level of care they receive, MUSC said. The Florence center's exact street location has been described two different ways in local reporting — as 1074 S Soccer Way and separately as W. Palmetto Street near I-95 and the soccer complex — though both descriptions point to the same general area near the soccer complex and the interstate.
