The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) presented City of North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey with the MUSC Healthy Communities Award at the planned site of the new MUSC pediatric campus in North Charleston. The facility is planned for the corner of Rivers Avenue and Mall Drive.
Summey received the award for his role in working with the North Charleston City Council, Children’s Hospital Advisory Board and MUSC Health leadership to facilitate the donation of a $4 million land parcel that will improve his community’s access to comprehensive, academic medical care. The MUSC Healthy Communities Award is presented to an individual, group or organization who works to target specific community health issues, demonstrate leadership, and/or collaborate in ways with MUSC that bring about innovative access to the state’s only comprehensive academic medical center.
“Without Mayor Summey’s support, and that of the North Charleston City Council, our plans for this pediatric campus would be little more than a dream, or a figment of imagination,” said Mark Scheurer, M.D., MUSC Children’s Hospital chief medical officer. “Instead, we plan to move forward with our new medical office building soon, and await DHEC regulatory decisions regarding other planned aspects of the medical campus. It’s truly a very exciting time for children’s health in our area.”
MUSC knows communities want to receive care differently than the status quo, according to Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., MUSC Health Executive Director and CEO and Vice President of Clinical Operations. People’s lives are busier, and there are many other reasons it’s difficult to come to the peninsula to access the MUSC system. “We think it’s simple- we need to bring the care to those who need it. We can do that through our pediatric telemedicine efforts, and we can also do it through new partnerships with community leaders who recognize the health need in front of their community. It takes leaders, like Mayor Summey, who are willing to help us create new pathways to make our dreams of providing every child and family in our area and beyond with the excellent, comprehensive pediatric care they want and deserve.”