WINNSBORO – The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) announced last Friday it will purchase Fairfield’s Providence free standing emergency room along with three Midlands-area hospitals and other hospitals in the state.
The purchase, approved by Medical University Hospital Authority Board of Trustees during June’s regular board meeting, will also include Providence Health hospitals, KershawHealth, which are currently owned by LifePoint Health, as well as affiliated physician practice locations serving communities in the Midlands.
Terms of the transaction have not yet been disclosed.
Fairfield County Interim Administrator Brad Caulder told The Voice that the county has not yet received any confirmation about the sale of the ER.
On April 9, 2021, PRISMA announced the termination of its own planned purchase of the ER.
Fairfield County has a significant investment in the Providence-Fairfield ER. The county has agreed to pay $10 million to Providence over 10 years to be used for operation of the ER as well as $4 million the county had been required to escrow as assurance those ten $1 million payments would be made.
“The county’s agreement with Providence includes negotiated terms of providing care to the citizens, keeping the ER open, indigent care issues and other things,” then-County Attorney Tommy Morgan said last year.