Community Impact of Hospitals is 'Wide-Reaching' at State, Local Levels
July 23, 2025
In South Carolina, healthcare is about more than just saving lives – it’s a booming industry, too, with hospitals in the state generating more than $36 billion annually.
At the local level, that means job growth, investment in the community and a commitment to expanding access to critical healthcare services.
A recent report from the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) showed that hospitals account for more than 203,000 state jobs with a total of $13.2 billion in labor income. That number includes jobs created directly by hospitals, indirectly by companies that do business with or because of hospitals and the trickle-down impact of spending by households of those jobholders.
The broader economic sector of healthcare and social assistance is South Carolina’s leading employer, accounting for 13.2% of the state’s workforce.
There were 81,047 employed individuals in Beaufort County last year, noted a 2024 report from the South Carolina Department of Employment & Workforce, and overall healthcare and social assistance makes up about 12.4% of the county’s workforce.
Beaufort Memorial employs over 1,800 people across the entire hospital system – that’s over 2.2% of the workforce countywide.
The need for increased healthcare access continues to grow with the region’s population. In May, Beaufort Memorial broke ground on the Bluffton Community Hospital, which will add 250 jobs in its first year. This facility will make care and healthcare employment opportunities more convenient for Bluffton residents, as lifesaving services are more easily accessible right in their backyard.
“The healthcare landscape in the Lowcountry is evolving rapidly. As our population continues to grow, so does the demand for greater access to both primary and specialty care,” said Beaufort Memorial President and CEO Russell Baxley. “Beaufort Memorial has responded to this growth by strategically expanding services and recruiting top-tier providers to meet the region’s changing needs.”
The nonprofit hospital system has welcomed more than 50 new providers since the start of 2022, and Beaufort Memorial’s long-standing partnership with MUSC Health has aided in the recruitment of specialists to the market. The partnership is just one way that the community hospital system is taking action to improve access to crucial healthcare services in the region, Baxley added.
“The value of a life saved, a baby delivered or quality of life restored cannot be quantified,” said SCHA President and CEO Thornton Kirby, “but there are numbers that demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of hospitals on their communities and the state of South Carolina, and they are impressive.”
The SCHA report revealed the figures attached to compassionate care in the state, with South Carolina hospitals caring for nearly 1.9 million individual patients annually, performing more than 25.5 million medical procedures, seeing more than 2.3 million emergency room visits and providing over $3.2 billion in uncompensated and charity care.
In 2024, Beaufort Memorial saw 9,059 admissions, 250,793 outpatient registrations, 45,700 ER visits, 12,355 surgeries, 1,110 deliveries, 292,214 physician office visits and a total of $36.8 million in uncompensated care.
In addition to the overall value of uncompensated care provided, Beaufort Memorial supports other community safety net organizations with in-kind services, including temporary storage space for Help of Beaufort as well as office space for Good Neighbor Medical Clinic (valued at $88,935 annually) and the AccessHealth of the Lowcountry and both the Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) clinics in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island.
The hospital system also has a dedicated transportation team and Mobile Wellness Unit committed to improving access to care for all patients, with 1,178 patients representing 26 zip codes given free rides to and from Beaufort Memorial facilities for medical care in 2024. The Mobile Wellness Unit offers health screening events around the region and was a part of 86 screening events in 2024, serving 1,670 people.
“This outreach and commitment to providing care and community support – regardless of a person’s ability to pay – highlights the vital, human role hospitals play in our communities,” Baxley said, “far beyond their economic impact.”
To learn more about the community support provided by Beaufort Memorial in 2024, read the 2024 Report to the Community.