Trident Health approved for conceptual designs of new Johns Island facility

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – The City of Charleston's Design Review Board (DRB) approved of the preliminary, conceptual designs for Trident Health's latest project.

Johns Island Emergency , a freestanding emergency facility, will be the first step towards expanding healthcare for those who live in the area.

"Oh, it's huge because as everybody who lives in Johns Island knows there are a lot of traffic issues," Christopher Morgan, City of Charleston planning manager, said. "So, having your own hospital and medical center on Johns Island, so you don't have to drive to West Ashley or downtown, is hugely helpful. And we're very excited to help make that a reality out there."

The civil engineering group working on the project is expected to meet some conditions that the DRB staff set earlier this week. These include studies on the landscape, windows, building materials, and elevation of Maybank Highway into the facility.

Trident Health is also planning to build a hospital behind the emergency department, which they are coordinating with the current design efforts.

"There is some other site planning, they had medical offices that would be nearby," Morgan said. "They have some new roadways that will lead to those facilities, so all of that would go through the permitting. The city has a new park that is very nearby, and so those things would all be things that we would help work together with Trident on the planning for it."

Although the hospital was announced before Johns Island Emergency, the plans must go through the state before it can take any further steps.

"It's a few years further down the road, it's a much more complicated facility to plan for and build," Morgan said. "And there also are certificate of need requirements, not the city implements but from the state."

Officials are estimating construction will begin in 2025.