ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg was awarded the "Gold Seal of Approval" accreditation from the Joint Commission.
This accreditation is granted to hospitals that meet the commission's standard in delivering quality health care.
Regional Medical Center CEO David Southerland says many patients in Orangeburg travel to other cities to receive care and this accreditation affirms quality care is accessible at home.
“We do provide great, great service at a very good quality and so it’s been confirmed with the Joint Commission accreditation Gold Seal and we want people in Orangeburg and surrounding counties to feel very comfortable to come and use our services," said Southerland.
These services at the hospital include a stroke center, level three trauma center, and on-site trauma center. Its dialysis access institute has been serving patients nationwide for 10 years.
“Our dialysis access institute, they do a lot of research for dialysis access devices and so what they’re doing here is they’re actually researching the products so that we can get FDA approval to offer those products that are gonna help patients in the future," said senior interim director Tonya Pratt.
The hospital is looking to expand its services to rural areas of Orangeburg and Calhoun counties by opening clinics in Saint Matthews, Santee, and Bowman.
“We’re trying to accommodate the community and people out in the rural areas by offering those services on a closer basis instead of people having to drive into Orangeburg or into the hospital," said Southerland.
The hospital is also working with telemedicine providers to further expand its outreach and the range of services they are able to provide to patients.