Palmetto Health and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, both in Columbia, S.C., have combined medical practices, forming the Midlands region's largest multispecialty medical group.
Here are six things to know about the newly formed group.
1. Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group, which launched April 1, comprises more than 500 providers and 2,200 team members in more than 80 practices and nearly 100 locations.
2. The multispecialty, clinically integrated medical group will be the 11th largest employer in the Midlands region.
3. Providers at the medical group will care for 370,000 patients.
4. Les Hall, MD, serves as executive dean of the USC School of Medicine and CEO of Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group. Mr. Hall joined the medical group in February 2015 from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Mo., where he was interim dean.
5. Dr. Hall believes the combined medical group will provide the broadest range of healthcare services to the Midlands region. "We will go beyond caring for people to caring about people. Our goal is to build a system that will be able to provide the people in our community with many new services and areas of expertise, providing greater access to health care they need — in convenient locations," he said in a prepared statement.
6. Joan Gabel, University of South Carolina provost, added, "At USC, we are excited to begin this new era in partnership with Palmetto Health. As the field of healthcare is rapidly changing, so is academic medicine. This expanded collaboration will open up new research opportunities and allow school of medicine students to learn in an interprofessional and team-based environment. It will help ensure the next generation of physicians is positioned to build the knowledge they need to provide excellent care in the future."
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