SEO Company in Charleston SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Elbit Systems of America, LLC, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd., today announced plans to establish operations in Charleston County. The project will create approximately 300 new jobs.

Founded in 1983, Elbit Systems of America, LLC is a leading provider of high-performance products and system solutions focusing on the defense, homeland security, commercial aviation and medical instrumentation sectors.

Located at 9028 Palmetto Commerce Parkway in North Charleston, Elbit Systems of America, LLC’s new facility will increase the company’s manufacturing capacity and support future growth for new products.

The new facility is expected to be operational by fall 2022. Individuals interested in joining the Elbit Systems of America, LLC team should visit the company’s careers webpage.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development credits related to this project. Charleston County was also awarded a $700,000 Set-Aside grant to assist with costs related to this project.

QUOTES

“This is an exciting milestone for Elbit America, building on decades of investment and growth in the U.S. defense market. Establishing this facility is part of a strategy to increase Elbit’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. and contribute to strengthening America’s defense industrial base. We selected South Carolina due to its strong support for economic development, the availability of skilled workforce and the existence of a robust supply chain.” -Elbit Systems of America President & CEO Raanan Horowitz

“Elbit Systems of America, LLC’s decision to create approximately 300 jobs within South Carolina is a huge win for Charleston County and the entire state. This project is an example of what we are capable of as members of Team S.C. We are excited to welcome this company and look forward to supporting them for many years to come.” -Gov. Henry McMaster

“South Carolina continues to show itself as extremely competitive for companies looking to set up new operations. Elbit Systems of America, LLC’s decision to locate its new facility in South Carolina is another sign that our state’s business-friendly climate, skilled workforce and exceptional market access are working to attract investments that create new jobs within our borders.” -Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III

“Charleston County is fortunate to have Elbit Systems of America, LLC join the ranks of our growing innovative ecosystem. We work hard each day to make our community business-friendly, resulting in the attraction of private investment and the creation of new job opportunities for our citizens.” -Charleston County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor

“The Port of Charleston is the nation’s most productive and efficient port. Charleston’s globally-connected infrastructure, robust defense sector, established automotive supply chain and reputation as a talent magnet influenced the company’s decision to locate here to better serve its customers. Elbit Systems of America, LLC will be a tremendous asset to our thriving defense, automotive and advanced manufacturing clusters.” -Charleston Regional Development Alliance Board Chairman Mike Fuller

A South Carolina hospital system that for the last 165 years has cared for the sick and injured on the low-lying Charleston peninsula announced that it is moving to higher ground.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare said Wednesday that it must relocate its flagship hospital from its current downtown location so that patients can “more easily access care closer to where they live and work.”

The health system also said in its 10-year strategic plan that the hospital also needs to be in a building that is “upgraded to better withstand natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.”

Roper Hospital is located on Calhoun Street in Charleston’s flood-prone medical mile, where chronic flooding impacts three major health systems: Roper St. Francis, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and the Medical University of South Carolina, the region’s only Level I trauma center.

Though Roper Hospital has not said yet where it plans to go, its departure marks the first evacuation from Charleston’s medical district.

“Who we are has always been more important than where we are,” Roper St. Francis CEO Dr. Jeffrey DiLisi said in a video published on the health system’s website.

The soon-to-be-announced building will be the fourth location for Roper Hospital since it opened downtown in 1856. DiLisi said in a statement that he expects to announce the new Roper Hospital location in the coming weeks.

“Today, I make this promise that whether you live in downtown Charleston or the farthest reaches of Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston counties, Roper St. Francis Healthcare will be a short drive away to serve your health care needs,” DiLisi said. “This strategic plan serves as our beacon to making primary and specialty care services more convenient for all of the communities we serve.”

The decision by Roper Hospital to move off the peninsula is the latest and one of the most dramatic examples of how climate change is impacting this coastal port city, which last year saw a record number of high-tide flooding and is currently in the process of building a sea wall to keep out storm surge.

The city has also had a change of heart when it comes to allowing residents to elevate their historic homes.

While moving Roper Hospital off the peninsula is a “focal point” of the Roper St. Francis Healthcare 2030 plan, the health system on Wednesday also announced other changes ahead.

It plans to expand its Berkeley County Hospital, upgrade its electronic medical records system and expand its medical services to growing parts of the region.

For example, this week, the health system said it has purchased property near the corner of Johnnie Dodds Boulevard and Mathis Ferry Road in Mount Pleasant.

The town of Mount Pleasant, located just east of peninsular Charleston over the iconic Arthur Ravenel Bridge, has seen its population grow by nearly 33% in the last decade, according to the latest 2020 Census data. It is now the fourth-largest place in South Carolina, based on population estimates, right behind North Charleston.

Even as Roper Hospital charts its departure from the peninsula, other health systems have continued to build downtown. Last year, right next to Roper Hospital, MUSC opened its Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital.

However, both the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and MUSC have also expanded their footprints beyond the Charleston peninsula.

In recent years, the Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina has looked to expand its physical footprint around the state, with plans in Indian Land, Berkeley County and Kingstree. The most recent expansion effort included the purchase of two hospitals in the Midlands — Columbia-based Providence Hospital and Camden’s Kershaw Health Medical Center.

In 2019, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center opted to move its primary care off the peninsula and cited frequent downtown flooding as one of the reasons driving the decision.

At this time, it is not known how much Roper’s 2030 strategic plan will cost or how the health system plans to pay for it.

But in a prepared statement, Dr. Brian Cuddy, a neurosurgeon and chairman of the Roper St. Francis Healthcare Board of Directors, projected optimism about the big move ahead.

“Our 2030 strategic plan is bold, ambitious and, together, it’s possible,” he said.

Hours after Roper’s announcement, the city of Charleston issued a warning to its citizens.

Major tidal flooding is expected starting Thursday in low-lying areas of the city during morning high tides, which are expected to exceed 8 feet Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

In a statement, Charleston Emergency Management Director Shannon Scaff urged residents to “make a plan for your morning commute, leave yourself extra driving time and remember to ‘turn around, don’t drown.’”

This story was originally published November 3, 2021 2:57 PM.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Electric bills are likely to increase next year for South Carolina customers served by Dominion Energy or two units of Duke Energy.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports the increases are likely to come after state regulators review how much the power companies have spent on coal and natural gas in 2021. South Carolina power providers estimate fuel costs annually, and then settle up differences between the estimate and what they actually paid. Fuel costs are passed through to customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

If utilities collect too much, they issue refunds, but if they have collected too little, rates go up. This year, utilities have probably billed customers too little for fuel.

The economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has driven up demand for natural gas and prices have nearly doubled from March to November, rising to about $5.50 per million British thermal units — the standard industry measurement.

Jim Chapman, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Dominion Energy, addressed the jump in natural gas costs during the company’s most recent earnings call, noting that “we’re hearing a lot about this topic across the industry this quarter.”

“So across our electric and gas utilities, we have very clear-cut ‘pass-through mechanisms’ for fuel costs,” Chapman told investors on Nov. 5, referring to the annual adjustments. “So this is less of an issue as to how the recent price increases may impact earnings if they’re sustained, but rather how they’ll impact our customer bills, something we obviously care about and we watch very closely.”

He also predicted the impact “to be less pronounced than what some recent headlines suggest due to a few things: the proximity of gas resources, our widespread use of storage to offset peak day requirements and the effectiveness of our gas supply hedging strategies.”

Dominion notified its 758,000 electric ratepayers in 24 counties this month that the South Carolina Public Service Commission will review its fuel bill in April.

Customers in the Pee Dee region served by Duke Energy Progress could see the adjustments appear on their July bills, after an April meeting with regulators. The commission will review fuel costs for Duke Energy Carolinas in July.

“Fuel consumption and costs are subject to a variety of factors including weather, customer demand and commodity prices,” said Ryan Mosier, spokesperson for Charlotte-based Duke Energy.

Customers of state-owned utility Santee Cooper won’t have to worry about the issue for at least the next three years.

“We’re in a court-ordered rate lock period through 2024, so fuel increases will not be passed on to customers,” said Mollie Gore, director of communications.

The freeze is part of a 2020 lawsuit settlement stemming from the Moncks Corner-based utility’s role in the failed expansion of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Congressman Jim Clyburn says he believes the newly-passed infrastructure bill will allow every household in the state to be connected to broadband internet service.

“You can’t have efficient, effective delivery of medicine without broadband,” Clyburn said. “Teleheatlh and telemedicine has got to be there. You cannot have adequate education without broadband. Businesses can’t operate can’t operate in just-in-time delivery, they’ve got to have broadband.”

He said during a news conference Tuesday that broadband is easily his top priority for the state.

“I am a believer that broadband is to the 21st century to what electricity was to the 20th century,” he said.

With nearly $600 billion in new federal aid, the historic investment includes more than $100 billion to improve aging highways, roads and bridges; another $39 billion for modernizing public transit, $25 billion to improve airports, $55 billion for clean drinking water and $65 billion to boost internet access.

Clyburn was joined by other Lowcountry representatives Tuesday to discuss other important projects under this new bill.

“Between 2017 and 2031, we’ll have about a 3-billion dollar capital plan in the port,” said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the SC Ports. “Anything we can do to qualify, congressman, for that, would be very helpful. Also, the idea of getting reimbursed for our pending share of the harbor deepening in a timely passion would be very, very important as well.”

$16.6 billion is planned to be used for waterway and coastal infrastructure, which includes port infrastructure.

Clyburn shared that $366 million dollars will be used to improve public transportation and an additional $70 million to support the expansion of electric vehicle charging networks.

CARTA chairman, Mike Seekings, was also at Tuesday’s press conference.

“Public transit is integral to what we’re going to do in terms of economic development in this community,” Seekings said. “The port, the airport, and all the things that we do to move people around the state when they get here are just so wildly important.”

Clyburn says overall, he believes South Carolina is going to be in good shape as a result of this bill.

Copyright 2021 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Nov. 8, 2021) – At MUSC Health, the safety of patients, families, care team members, students, faculty and staff remains the number one priority. The MUSC Public Affairs and Media Relations department will issue regular COVID-19 updates on Monday of each week. If a federal or state holiday falls on a Monday, then a report will be issued the following day. Please read the report in its entirety; information can change quickly.

The Path Forward / Recovery

Pediatric Vaccine

“This is our path toward normalcy," says Allison Eckard, M.D., pediatric infectious disease doctor and mom of two, of the COVID vaccine for kids age 5-11.

COVID-19 VACCINATION UPDATE

MUSC Health has vaccine appointments for all eligible individuals age 12 and up. Eligible individuals can visit muschealth.org/get-vaccine to make an appointment; while appointments are encouraged, walk-ins are welcome at all MUSC COVID-19 vaccine clinic locations. View information and a video with directions on how to schedule a vaccination appointment. The community is encouraged to monitor muschealth.org for COVID-19 vaccine availability criteria, updates and FAQs.

For more information related to public, community vaccination sites operated by MUSC Health throughout the state, please visit vaxlocator.dhec.sc.gov/. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome.

Homebound individuals who need in-home COVID-19 vaccination services should contact DHEC’s COVID-19 vaccine information line by calling 1-866-365-8110. Please note that community members should not directly contact the vendors. All calls must be routed through the DHEC COVID-19 vaccine information line to access this program.

MUSC Health vaccination administration data is available upon request.

MUSC Health COVID-19 Vaccination Expectation for all care team members

All MUSC Health leaders and care team members are now required to have the COVID-19 vaccine. Religious and medical exemptions may apply for some care team members. All new care team members should receive a single dose vaccine prior to starting work or the first dose of a two-dose vaccine prior to starting work. The second dose must be completed within three weeks as a condition of employment. As of July 1, more than 99.9% of MUSC Health care team members have complied with this policy. MUSC Health has established this policy for the safety of our care team, our patients and patients’ families and visitors.

FOR UPDATED DATA:

Factors in our Favor

Three factors to watch as we face the prospect of another winter COVID surge.

The MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project is a digital dashboard that provides leading indicators related to the COVID-19 epidemic to enable informed decisions. Current situation assessments for MUSC Health – Charleston (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties), MUSC Health Florence, and MUSC Health Lancaster divisions are available on this site.

HELPFUL WEB LINKS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC:

MUSC COVID-19 mobile diagnostic testing

MUSC Health offers COVID-19 testing in hospital, clinic and other locations. Patients are encouraged to communicate with their providers through MUSC MyChart should they need testing services. Current turnaround time is approximately 24 hours for test results. A full list of testing information is available at musc.co/testing.

MUSC Health, in partnership with the state legislature, is also rotating mobile screening and collection sites in rural and underserved areas throughout the state, for both walk-up and drive-through patients, which are advertised locally in partnership with municipalities, community organizations and businesses. Prescreening is not required and there is no cost to patients. Patients will be contacted within two days with the results of their test, if not sooner. Patients are asked to bring photo identification and an insurance card if they have one. The CARES Act requires MUSC to bill insurance providers if patients do have insurance. Patients may email [email protected] if they have questions regarding their results. If they do not have an email address, they may call 843-985-8888.

Sites may close early or operate with reduced hours if weather conditions become unsafe for care team members or if volume exceeds site safety capacity.

Information related to Healthy Me — Healthy SC free, statewide mobile testing sites for each week can be found here.

COVID-19 related stories for follow-up

A pediatrician addresses some of the top concerns she hears from parents who wonder if it’s safe for kids to get COVID vaccines.

Former photojournalist Alan Hawes changed professions to nursing because he wanted to become more of an active participant in making the world a better place.

The pandemic has pushed already increasing mental health problems in children to heartbreaking new levels, prompting emergency declaration.

New treatments for COVID-19 may be on the way. Here’s how they work, plus the step an MUSC scientist encourages everyone to take.

Basic stats / COVID-19 positive cases

Previously reported data points, such as the total number of pediatric inpatients, COVID-19 community screening tests completed by MUSC Health- Charleston and the number of positive cases determined via those tests, the number of telehealth screenings, total number of specimens collected at various mobile sites, or the number of COVID-19 positive MUSC care team members are available upon request. Information related to vaccinations is at the top of this release.

For specific information about MUSC Health Florence or Marion Medical Centers, please contact Kim Geiger at [email protected].

For information about MUSC Health Chester or Lancaster Medical Centers, please contact Ashley Shannon at [email protected].

For information about MUSC Health Columbia Medical Centers Downtown or Northeast and MUSC Health Fairfield Emergency and Imaging, please contact Karlin Ferguson at [email protected].

For information about MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center, please contact Karlin Ferguson at [email protected].

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is home to the oldest medical school in the South as well as the state’s only integrated academic health sciences center, with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. MUSC brought in more than $328 million in biomedical research funds in fiscal year 2021, continuing to lead the state in obtaining this funding. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality and safe patient care while training generations of compassionate, competent health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Close to 25,000 care team members provide care for patients at 14 hospitals with approximately 2,500 beds and 5 additional hospital locations in development, more than 300 telehealth sites and nearly 750 care locations situated in the Lowcountry, Midlands, Pee Dee and Upstate regions of South Carolina. In 2021, for the seventh consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $4.4 billion. The more than 25,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care.