Health Care Partners of South Carolina’s new Conway facility is just what the doctor ordered for a healthy population, and a healthy downtown business district.
The new $18 million health center will consolidate HCPSC’s scattered Horry County operations and bring more than 100 employees under one roof on a 5-acre tract at 1500 Fourth Avenue in Conway.
Officials have already demolished the abandoned strip mall that occupied the site, and broke ground for the two-story, 5,500-square-foot health center at a ceremony on Friday, May 16.
The health center “will be a hub for whole-person care,” HCPSC CEO Santina Mayo told a crowd of about 75 that gathered on the asphalt parking lot, where a pile of dirt had been dumped for the ceremonial shoveling.
Mayo said HCPSC will be able to expand services in the spacious new building, adding about 10 additional providers plus their support staff. Existing services like primary care, behavioral health, pediatrics, diabetes care, and substance abuse disorder, dental and pharmaceutical services will be augmented by new services including women’s health.
HCPSC is a nonprofit health care organization that provides high-quality care to all persons regardless of their ability to pay.
“Their legacy of service to the underserved and under-insured speaks volumes about their commitment to health equity and community well-being,” said State Sen. Kent Williams (D-Marion), who represents state Senate District 30, which includes Conway. HCPSC serves residents of Horry, Florence and Marion counties.
Conway City Administrator Adam Emrick said the new health center will be a catalyst for growth and economic activity by bringing a large workforce and thousands of patients to the downtown.
It could also lead to further development by encouraging property owners and developers to extend the downtown business core west on fourth and fifth avenues.
“We are out of space in our downtown buildings,” Emrick said, referring to the downtown core branching off Main Street.
“If we’re going to continue to prosper, we must be able to grow our downtown; this is crucial to our success,” Emrick said. “We need more groups like Health Care Partners to take a look at their operations and say 'it’s time, we’re ready to grow, because Conway is ready to grow with you.'"
HCPSC Board Chairman George Williams Jr. said the organization also hopes to partner with the city to install a small public park on a wooded area to the rear of the property.
Mashburn Construction of Myrtle Beach is the general contractor for the build — a two-story, red-brick building that will give the health organization room to grow. Completion is expected in the fall of 2026.
Mashburn company director Josh Kay told the crowd Friday that the company seeks out “projects that will meet our vision of building better communities. This project screams that from the top of the mountain.”
HCPSC has been providing health care services since 1978, said Dr. Jeanne Halyard, who said she has watched the organization grow “from a small clinic with 10 employees … to a regional health-care provider with over 150 employees.”
Mayo said the new facility should serve as a springboard for additional growth. She said HCPSC currently has about 16,000 patients, but aspires to nearly double that number to about 30,000.
HCPSC also has offices is Marion and Johnsonville, and serves rural areas with mobile units offering medical, dental and eye-care services.
Mayo said they also have small buses that provide transportation for patients.
The new Conway complex will also be accessible via public transportation. It’s located just steps away from Coast RTA’s Conway bus terminal on Third Avenue.
Reach Casey Jones at 843-488-7261 or [email protected].