Bill Text: SC H4325 | 2019-2020 | 123rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Abbeville Area Medical Center
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 79-44)
Status: (Passed) 2019-04-02 - Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence [H4325 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2019-H4325-Introduced.html
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
TO CONGRATULATE ABBEVILLE AREA MEDICAL CENTER ON THE OCCASION OF ITS ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY AND, ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, TO EXPRESS THE APPRECIATION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR THE CENTER'S MANY YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE TO THIS GREAT STATE.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly are pleased to learn that May 12, 2019, marks the one hundredth anniversary of the charter of Abbeville Area Medical Center; and
Whereas, Abbeville County Memorial Hospital, as the center was first called, has a long and venerable history. In 1919, a group of local men saw the need for a community hospital and purchased for that purpose the Ferguson-Williams College, located on Ellis Avenue in Abbeville; and
Whereas, in June 1919, the first managing board of the hospital was elected, and in July 1920, Abbeville County Memorial Hospital opened with great fanfare and was named in memory of the Abbeville County soldiers who served in World War I; and
Whereas, in April 1931, a tragic fire erupted, destroying the interior of the building. The hospital rose from its ashes and was renovated, reopening in January 1932. However, the need for a new hospital was once again recognized in the early 1960s. Accordingly, a successful county referendum was held for the issuance of bonds, and additional funding was secured through the Hill-Burton Act to construct the second location; and
Whereas, construction of the second Abbeville County Memorial Hospital began in June 1964 on a tract of land located on Highway 72. The fifty-two-bed facility opened in July 1966; and
Whereas, following the construction of this facility, services were continually expanded. The first physician office building was erected next to the hospital in 1972. In 1981, an addition to the hospital was built that included an ICU/CCU; and
Whereas, in the early 2000s, the need for another new hospital was apparent. Healthcare had changed, and in order to keep pace with the move to more outpatient services, the hospital had to change, as well. Therefore, plans for a facility to be paid for with $10.5 million in revenue bonds was presented to county council, and in April 2004, the third bond reading was approved. Ground was broken in May 2005 on the third hospital facility, and in July 2006, the new twenty-five-bed Abbeville Area Medical Center was dedicated. The center accepted its first patients in August 2006; and
Whereas, at the new facility's opening, its name was changed to Abbeville Area Medical Center to reflect its regional approach to care; and
Whereas, since opening in 1919, the hospital has continued to grow by adding numerous services and physician partners, as well as by expanding its home health division, Health Related Home Care, becoming its own small hospital system; and
Whereas, Abbeville Area Medical Center, which presently employs more than four hundred nurses, healthcare providers, and other staff, for one hundred years has admirably discharged its duty to offer caring, premium-quality medical services to the citizens of the Palmetto State. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, congratulate Abbeville Area Medical Center on the occasion of its one hundredth anniversary, and, on behalf of the people of South Carolina, express their appreciation for the center's many years of dedicated service to this great State.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Abbeville Area Medical Center.
