UofSC and Lexington Medical Center are partnering to build a new state-of-the-art nursing simulation center + teaching space. UofSC’s Board of Trustees also announced a new Graduate Medical Education (GME) affiliation with the local hospital to transition graduating students into new primary care programs.
The coming development will expand the education of both nurses + physicians, build the future of healthcare around the Midlands, aid in the current nursing shortage, and grow the number of primary care physicians statewide.
🔢 Let’s talk numbers
- 13 — the number of residents who will be accepted in the family practice GME program per year beginning next summer
- 400 — the number of UofSC nurses that will be able to graduate from the new program, which is an 80% increase annually
- 50,000 — the square footage of the new nursing facility, which will be located on Lexington Medical Center’s campus
- $20 million — the estimated cost of the new development set to be complete by 2024
🔣 Let’s talk logistics
- Lexington Medical Center will fund the building of the new facility and provide clinical instructors while UofSC provides all of the equipment needed + furnishings.
- The building will be used for clinical training of UofSC’s third-year and fourth-year nursing bachelor’s students + master’s program students.
- The new Family Medicine Residency Program is expected to be one of the largest in SC and increase available residency positions by 12%.
- The groundbreaking is expected to happen sometime this fall and accept the first cohort of students in the fall of 2024.
☑️ What’s already in the works
Construction began this year on a $19 million, 45,000-sqft development which will host the Graduate Medicine Education (GME) program’s instructional space + patient care clinics.
Over the next five years, the hospital plans to establish more primary care-focused residency programs, like Internal Medicine and OB/GYN residencies.
Lexington Medical Center is currently looking to recruit the first cohort of family medicine residents who will be prepared for independent practice by 2026.