Mount Pleasant, S.C.-based Southeastern Spine Institute joined Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, effective Jan. 1.
SSI has provided spine procedures — including surgery and nonsurgical care, rehabilitation, pain management, physical therapy, and advanced imaging — for more than 30 years, according to a Jan. 6 Novant Health news release shared with Becker's. More than 50% of SSI's patients are from outside the greater Charleston area.
Steven Polett, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon and founder of SSI, said the partnership with Novant "enables us to enhance the scope and accessibility of our services, bringing innovative and comprehensive spine care to even more patients."
SSI is located in a 65,000-square-foot facility on the campus of East Cooper Medical Center in Mount Pleasant. Novant acquired East Cooper Medical Center, along with two other South Carolina hospitals from Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare in February. Novant entered South Carolina with the purchase of those facilities.
Novant completed the acquisition of UCI Medical Affiliates from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina in November. The purchase includes 52 Doctors Care and 20 Progressive Therapy Clinics, which are staffed by nearly 200 physicians and advanced practice providers.
The health system also plans to build a new full-service community hospital campus in Bluffton, S.C.