By Lynn Bailey, special to Statehouse Report  |  This week, I guess in honor of the turkey, the Medical University of South Carolina Board of Trustees approved a turkey of an idea:  the acquisition of four poorly-performing hospitals from Community Health Systems (CHS), a for-profit health company that is rapidly selling off its underperforming assets.

The hospitals to be acquired are:  Chester Hospital in Chester County, Springs Memorial Hospital in Lancaster County, Marion Hospital in Marion County and Carolinas Hospital in Florence.  Except for Carolinas Hospital in Florence, all of the hospitals are located in rural counties and are in serious danger of bankruptcy and closing.

Bailey
Additionally, CHS is unloading some more loser hospitals in the Upstate to Spartanburg Regional Health Center:  Mary Black Health System in Spartanburg and Mary Black Health System in Gaffney.  Spartanburg Regional Health Center is also a public health system controlled by Spartanburg County.