The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has approved a Certificate of Need for a new linear accelerator at the new St. Joseph’s/Candler Bluffton Campus.
 
“We are very excited to move forward with this major medical campus in Buckwalter Place,” said Paul P. Hinchey, President & CEO of St. Joseph’s/Candler. “The linear accelerator for radiation cancer treatments is a key part of our plan to build a regional cancer campus in Bluffton to serve the South Carolina Low Country.”
 
The 40,000-square-foot Bluffton campus is currently in the planning phase and construction is scheduled to begin in January. The first phase is 20,000 square feet and will open in December 2019. It will house medical oncology, radiation oncology and other supportive cancer services.
 
In addition to oncology services,  the long term strategy of the facility will be to provide an integrated healthcare delivery experience to patients in that region by offering a variety of health care services.
 
The campus will be built at Buckwalter Place in two phases during the next six years. It will cost $22 million and employ about 60 people with an estimated annual payroll of $6.6 million.
 
St. Joseph’s/Candler has provided medical services in Bluffton and Hilton Head for more than 16 years. This development will expand upon this footprint at the center of growth in the Bluffton market.   
 
A key component of this project will be the development of a regional oncology campus that will add another linear accelerator for radiation treatment and expand medical oncology services that will virtually eliminate the need for patients to travel to Savannah. St. Joseph’s/Candler currently  operates  a linear accelerator in Hilton Head that will continue to serve that area.
 
Bluffton is one of the fastest growing communities in the nation, expanding by more than 40 percent since 2010. Because of this incredible growth, the demand for convenient, technologically-advanced medical care is growing also.
 
Existing St. Joseph’s/Candler services in the Low Country

-          Primary care doctors

-          Specialty doctors, such as neurology, general surgery, neurosurgery, ENT and gastroenterology

-          Radiation oncology

-          Medical oncology

-          Urgent care

-          Medication management

-          Wound care

-          Imaging services

New and expanded services at the St. Joseph’s/Candler Bluffton Medical Campus

-          Oncology treatment planning and management

-          Oncology radiation treatment with an advanced linear accelerator

-          Oncology pharmacy services

-          Addition of up to three more primary care doctors

-          Addition of a medical oncologist

-          Addition of a cardiologist

-          Breast surgery clinic

-          New gynecologic oncology office hours

-          New thoracic oncology office hours

-          New OB/GYN office hours

-          Expanded vascular and neurology specialty office hours

-          Oncology telemedicine services