Charleston Memorial Hospital in Charleston, S.C. will close in the coming months, with most of its functions being absorbed by the Medical University of South Carolina Hospital.
Patrick Cawley, MUSC's medical director, said Charleston Memorial's emergency department, which treats about 12,000 people per year, would be absorbed by the main university hospital, and other clinical functions will move to Ashley River Tower, a new hospital that opened in February 2008.
Most of Charleston Memorial's 116 affected employees will be reassigned, but 14 positions will be terminated, Cawley said.
MUSC president Ray Greenberg said budget concerns did not drive the decision to close the hospital, although the budget did have implications. Between $1 million and $2 million will be saved by closing Charleston Memorial.
Additionally, the South Carolina Legislature recently cut the state budget, eliminating more than $14 million in state-appropriated funds for MUSC.
Charleston Memorial is part of the Medical University Hospital Authority, which does not receive state-appropriated funds but has been hurt by budget cuts through reduced Medicaid reimbursement and low patient numbers.
The Medical University of South Carolina bought Charleston Memorial from Charleston County eight years ago. For more than a decade prior to the sale, the county paid MUSC to run the hospital.
The hospital opened in 1965 and had 20 beds for patients waiting for placement in long-term care facilities.