Spartanburg Regional Healthcare Services
Tony Kouskolekas, President of Pelham Medical Center, detailed the $24 million, three-story expansion for emergency and surgical services.
Jim Fair
Construction on the back of Pelham Medical Center.
Jim Fair
Greer Mayor Rick Danner signs the symbolic topping out beam.
What the expansion will look like when finished.
Construction on the east side, back of the hospital was presented Tuesday morning with Tony Kouskolekas, President of PMC telling visitors:
• 55,000 square feet of floor space, will be added to the three story expansion,
• 9 observation beds will be part of a new unit adjacent to the emergency department,
• An MRI will be added to PMC,
• 50 new healthcare jobs will be created.
The expansion to the master facilities to the Greer campus has been in the planning stages for three years.
“We are always trying to enhance the patient’s experience,” Kouskolekas said. “By adding this area, we will be able to provide further for patients who originate in the emergency department.”
The emergency room is averaging 90-100 patients daily, up from the 60-65 people four years ago.
“We are doubling our capacity and our efficiency,” Kouskolekas said. “Imaging equipment is very expensive, one being MRI. That will be convenient.”
Patients currently needing an MRI need to be transported by ambulance to the Medical Office Building across the street.
The nine additional observation beds more than double the present size. Observation beds are used for patients who need a bed while they are being diagnosed, after which they may be treated and released, or admitted to the hospital.
Emergency room patients will be placed in one of three zones to determine immediate care and fast track those with more urgent care.
“The past five years our daily census has doubled. We had all kinds of data and research and we bought the land,” Jim Crook, board member of the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, said. “We’re building the buildings and fasten your seatbelt, we have a lot more to come.”
Healthcare is one deciding factor with business and industry shopping for a location. “Presence of quality healthcare is a prerequisite for businesses,” Reno Deaton, President Greer Development Corporation. “There are so many great things here on campus for the residential and business communities.”
“The location of this organization is strategic,” Allen Smith, Spartanburg President/CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. “We know high quality health care and the quality of opportunities like this is valuable.”
Kouskolekas has been president of PMC five years. “This is a new step in our history,’ he said. “This space validates how the community is growing. In another year or so this project will be open and ready for business.”
Phil Feisal was president of formerly named Village at Pelham Hospital. He is the president of the Spartanburg Medical Center, recognized as the No. 2 ranked hospital in the state and best in the upstate. “The community is growing so fast and we’re trying to keep up,” Feisal said.
Roads and infrastructure entering the hospital will also have some work. One plan discussed in the past is to push Westmoreland Road out further toward the property line closest to I-85. That will create a straighter road, allow for more buildings and provide additional parking. The expansion will also result in additional parking.
A $65 million investment into the 6-10 story world-class Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute is also scheduled for construction to begin this year. Gibbs Cancer Center and the PMC would be connected with a glass bridge over Westmoreland Road.