Nearly 100 residents raise concerns about proposed Tidelands Health hospital in Socastee area

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - Nearly 100 people showed up to a community meeting at the South Strand Recreation Center Monday night to voice their concerns about a proposed hospital near the neighborhood.

The Tidelands Health Carolina Bays Hospital would be located off Highway 707 and Highway 31 in the Socastee area.

Tidelands Health is requesting to rezone approximately 82.6 acres from Mobile Home Park (MHP) and Highway Commercial (HC) to Inpatient Medical Services (ME1). This will allow the hospital to create a medical use complex so employees can provide healthcare services to the public.

The property contains 54.64 acres of wetlands and 27.8 acres of uplands. The rezoning documents for the project state “wetland fill is proposed with development of this project.”

Tidelands Health says building a new hospital in this part of Horry County will ensure they can provide additional medical care services to the growing Horry County population.

The expected hospital will include 36 medical-surgical beds, an emergency department, four operating suites and laboratory services. In addition, about 140 people will be employed once the facility opens up.

Tidelands Health previously released the following statement about the proposed facility:

“Horry County, home to the second-fastest-growing area in the nation, has a significant need for hospital beds. According to SC DHEC’s 2020 South Carolina Health Plan, an additional 155 hospital beds are needed to serve the sprawling county. The not-for-profit health system, with more than 60 care locations across the region, already delivers care to thousands of Horry County residents annually. In fact, more than 54 percent of the health system’s annual patient encounters are Horry County residents. Every day, the people of Horry County choose Tidelands Health for their health and wellness needs at our physician offices, rehabilitation centers and other outpatient locations across Horry County,” said Bruce Bailey, president and CEO. “Tidelands Health Carolina Bays Hospital will add to that integrated continuum of care, allowing patients to seamlessly and conveniently access the high-quality health care services they need.”

Staff at Tidelands Health say the proposed site will add community benefits to the Socastee area because it will provide easier access to life-saving care. They also state there will not be a negative impact on property value.

However, some residents have questions about how the new site could impact their community in other ways. Many brought their concerns to the community meeting.

Robert Hans has been living near the proposed site for quite some time. Like some who attended the meeting, he’s not opposed to the hospital being near the neighborhood.

“The water is the biggest issues, stormwater has been an issue in that area for a long time,” Hans said.

He says living near Tern Hall has meant dealing with flooding issues. For him, adding another water flow from another property may not be the best option until other water issues the community has been facing are resolved.

Some other residents wanted more information about how the hospital intends to stop any possible water issues.

Tidelands Health CEO Bruce Bailey addressed those concerns before numerous Tern Hall residents.

Bailey says all water property will be managed in compliance with local and state guidelines. He also said Tidelands Health will include a system of retention ponds and piping to control the release of water through the Highway 707 drainage system.

He added the purpose of the system is to prevent, not add to any possible water problems in the neighborhood.

“I’m not a civil engineer, but that is our plan, is to gather up all of our water on our property in those ponds, then we will direct it towards the 707 corridor where the DOT has put in pipping to take that water on out,” Bailey said.

He noted as the hospital develops its plans, they’ll do what they’re able to do to help residents.

“Understanding there’s only so much we can do,” Bailey said. “Horry County is obviously working with Tern Hall to try to resolve some of those issues.”

“I’m concerned because it’s the unknown,” Hans said. “Water flows where it wants to go.”

In addition to the water system concerns, Bailey also addressed traffic management.

WMBF News previously spoke with one resident who says she and a few of her neighbors are opposed to this project because they feel it will bring more traffic, people and noise to the Socastee area. Some people brought up similar statements during the community meeting.

According to Horry County and Tidelands staff, “the DOT have offered preliminary indication that a traffic light will be approved at Peat Moss Road and Highway 707. Tern Hall residents will have direct access to this traffic-light controlled entrance, as well as access to 707 via the existing Tern Hall entrance.”

Bailey says the traffic lights were something many community members wanted but weren’t able to get because of the amount of traffic coming to the area.

“They didn’t have enough volume of traffic to warrant a traffic light,” Bailey said. “Together we have enough traffic volume to warrant the light and traffic signal. We consider that to be a win-win for both the Tern Hall community and the hospital.”

Some residents said they were opposed to the traffic light. Other’s said there are ‘bigger fish to fry’ than the stoplight.

“I have no problem with the stoplight,” Hans said. “The water is the biggest problem. Waiting to turn is a time thing, losing a house under water because the house has already been flooded, would you rather lose a house or wait ten minutes to make a turn? "

There were also questions from numerous residents about what the hospital would be doing regarding any potential noise control. Bailey says they’ll now be discussing a wider range of options based on the concerns he heard from the community.

“What we can do with buffer zones, technology or trees and fences,” Bailey said. “We’ll consider that.”

One resident wanted to know to more about the hospitals research process that determined their neighborhood would be a good fit for the new location.

“The research you did that shows this location is a perfect location for a hospital in a developed community. I would like to see it,” the resident said.

The resident was told the research could be made available to the public.

Overall, Bailey said he was happy to see community members come out and voice their opinions.

“Our potential neighbors,” Bailey said. “Obviously there’s lots to consider here. Everybody is always worried about water and floods and we understand that and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure we handle that very well. Very pleased that a lot of people see the value of having Tidelands Health come to the community.”

The Horry County Planning Commission must first makes its recommendation on whether Tidelands Health’s rezoning request should be approved. Their recommendation then goes to Horry County Council who will make the final decision.

Horry County staff members said the planning commission will discuss the project on Thursday. The group will be making its recommendation for the project on May 6.

Pending the rezoning approval, Tidelands Health says the property purchase will be finalized and the site infrastructure will begin. However, their first priority will be the roadway development and traffic signal installation.

Bailey said Tidelands Health is waiting for a confirmation from South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control about where they stand with the approval for the certificate of need application.

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