Sickle Cell Center Opens Doors

New hope is being offered to patients with sickle cell disease. Palmetto Health Richland celebrated the opening of a brand new center for sickle cell patients designed to help ease their pain. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder mostly in African Americans. More than a thousand people are treated right here in the Midlands for the condition that constantly causes pain. Until now patients would have to go to the emergency room when they had a pain episode and wait for hours for treatment, plus they were seen by doctors that may not have been familiar with the disease. Antionette Briggs has lived with this her whole and says this is the right direction, "This is one step toward something this center to say yes this is a serious disease people die everyday they must understand". Patients will now go to the center for all their treatment of pain episodes. The center is open Monday through Friday from 7 in the morning to seven at night.