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INDIAN LAND, S.C. (WBTV) - For years, people in Lancaster County’s panhandle have been waiting for a new medical facility to reach their end of the county.

Now, MUSC Health announced that it will be moving forward with a hospital in Indian Land.

This $300 million project will close a gap for people in the area who have to travel into Lancaster or North Carolina for certain care.

Just a few months ago, Melissa Thornton’s husband Tim went septic. He needed immediate medical attention, but the couple had to choose between Pineville and MUSC Lancaster.

The couple went to Lancaster.

“He had an antibiotic IV in him within the hour. We would’ve still been in a waiting room in Pineville,” Melissa Thornton said.

Tim Thornton got the care he needed in Lancaster, but the couple says they’ve seen a need in Indian Land for something even more local.

“Local care is so important, and if you don’t have it, then not only are you leaving your home area, you’re leaving your support area as well –- your friends, your family, people around you,” Melissa Thornton said.

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Scott Broome, MUSC Health’s CEO of the Catawba Division, said the medical system applied for a certificate of need in 2020, and the project was delayed by an appeal in 2022. Now, they’re back on track to move forward, officials recently announced.

“The earlier decision of approval was upheld, and so at that point, we had our certificate of need free and clear,” Broome said. “From that point forward, we began the design process, the preparations to launch our campus,.”

This project is expected to bring in 400 to 500 new jobs to the area. The hospital will be smaller, but will offer services for the county’s biggest needs -- including transplants, heart services, oncology, and robotic surgeries.

Broome said the hospital will also be able to expand in the future.

“The best care is local, and that facility will allow us to provide a great number of services locally to the growing number of people in that community,” Broome said.

The convenience of this new facility will change care in this area, according to Melissa Thornton.

“We wanted to get to the right place at the right time and not waste any time, and so having something close by ... it’s gonna be so important,” Melissa Thornton said.

The MUSC Indian Land hospital is set to break ground in June 2025.

As of April 28, the medical system hopes to open medical offices at the site in 2026, and open the hospital in 2027. MUSC does have several clinics in the Indian Land area that are available to the community.

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LANCASTER, S.C. (WBTV) - Studies done under the National Institute of Health show that economic stressors can have an impact on children.

Leaders at the Lancaster County School District say they’ve seen students struggle with anxiety and depression.

Lancaster County School’s Director of Student Services, Dr. Lindsey Marino, says students can be worried about things happening at home.

“Being hungry, worried about things, and so if we can give an avenue to help families and ease some of the some of the barriers, some of the tension that our students are struggling with, it’ll be worth it,” she explains.

Lancaster County Schools has recently partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to offer families free online resources and courses to help teach parents about different mental health challenges.

The district’s student services specialist Adam Porter explains, “I think the mental health crisis that our students are facing and more importantly, the family’s kind of struggling, not knowing where the resources are, how to access them, how to best support their children, now is a great time to offer this to our families.”

The Lancaster County School District believes that getting parents involved in the conversation will help them understand what their students are facing and the impact it can have on the academically.

Porter says, “And it allows them to build a capacity to understand whatever topic they’re wanting to learn more about. They learn more about the issue, and then how to support their child with that.”

The student services leaders explain that some students in this district have more access than others. They believe this resource will help improve the district’s academics over time and help parents keep their students on track to success.

Dr. Marino says, “When students are able to concentrate on their education and concentrate and leave outside forces outside of the classroom, that we know that academics will improve.”

District leaders explain that families don’t always have time or the ability to access mental health care.

According to Psychology Today- the average cost of a therapy session is between $100 and $200. They hope that this new partnership will offer them that and break down stigmas.

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Lancaster County could get a new charter school in Indian Land as well as hundreds more homes.

Several applications are in for new construction. They’ve each been part of a county planning commission workshop, a process that typically puts development proposals on the next full planning commission agenda. There’s no agenda yet for that meeting on April 15.

Final decisions on the charter school and a subdivision with 100 homes could come then. Another project, with more than 300 homes, would still require approval by Lancaster County Council.

Here’s a look at the proposals:

? Florida-based Alliance Education Services applied with Lancaster County to allow a new charter school in Indian Land. The kindergarten through eighth grade Harrisburg Global Academy would go on more than 26 acres at 11774 Harrisburg Road.

The two-parcel site is on the east side of Harrisburg Road, north of the PCI Group communications company and the Islamic Community Center of South Charlotte. The undeveloped property sits between homes in the Almond Glen and Farrington subdivisions.

A site plan submitted with the application to allow a school shows an entrance-only driveway on the southern part of the property, off Harrisburg Road.

The drive would pass an area marked as a future athletic field, shown on the site plan as a football field. The school would go on the far northern side of the property. The driveway would wrap around the school and exit in both directions onto Harrisburg Road.

The plan indicates Harrisburg Global Academy would be 61,000 square feet and have space for 800 students, plus 55 staff members.

The new school site needs approval from the county planning commission, not Lancaster County Council, to allow a school. The South Carolina Department of Education has to approve charter schools, and doesn’t yet list Harrisburg Global Academy among its 104 charter schools statewide.

A Facebook page for the school states the planned opening will come in August of next year.

? Property owner Old Hickory Hill and G3 Engineering applied to rezone 160 acres off the west side of Old Hickory Road to allow for a 310-home subdivision. The property is southwest of Van Wyck, about halfway between the Charlotte Highway entrance to the more than 1,800-home Roselyn neighborhood and Landsford Canal State Park in Chester County.

Old Hickory Hill, or the family behind the company, has owned the property since at least the mid 1950s, according to county land records. The property sold last fall for $950,000. The owner’s address is a nearly 2-acre home on Old Hickory Road, surrounded on all but the road frontage side by the new subdivision property.

A site plan submitted to the county shows a 2-acre amenity area beside that existing home.

There are two entrances off Old Hickory, just north of Roselyn Avenue. The central part of the property shows homes in a grid pattern. There are three cul-de-sacs on the western portion, with a connector road accessing them.

That road crosses a large wetland area. The map also shows four ponds scattered across the property. There are more wetlands at the far north end of the site.

The planning commission makes recommendations on rezoning requests, but Lancaster County Council will make the final decision. No agenda has been set, but it could appear as soon as April 28.

? Shadow Moss is a 100-home subdivision plan on Hilldale Drive. Prestige Development & Site Works applied to develop the property. The 52-acre property is just north of Flat Creek Road, east of Lancaster.

Two entrances off Hilldale Drive lead to 26 homes south of Hannah’s Creek. Both roads cross the creek to the remainder of the homes. Three large ponds are shown.

One of the two entrances cuts through the middle of 14 already developed properties on Hilldale Drive. In February, the South Carolina Department of Transportation noted the two access drives were too close together.

The project would need to reduce the home count to where only one access was required by the county, according to the transportation department, or have one access gated for emergency use only.

The property owner asked to defer a county decision in March. Because it’s a subdivision approval request, the county planning commission will make a final decision rather than Lancaster County Council.

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John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie. Support my work with a digital subscription

For patients in Lancaster, South Carolina, and surrounding counties, access to specialized neurosurgical care has often required extensive travel. Now, with the arrival of Patrick Jowdy, M.D., a neurosurgeon specializing in complex spine procedures, high-quality care is closer to home at MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center.

“I was drawn to Lancaster Medical Center because it is an up-and-coming facility with tremendous potential for growth,” said Jowdy. “I appreciate the opportunity to work in one hospital system, focusing on providing dedicated care to the region.

Coming from private practice in the Charlotte area, Jowdy brings great talent and experience to Lancaster Medical Center. Chief Medical Officer Edward McCutcheon, M.D., MHA, is thrilled with the addition of a highly specialized surgeon to the market. He likened Jowdy to a “veteran football player coming out of free agency” who is bringing his expertise and use of new technologies to the region.

“We were very fortunate to have recruited a highly sought after specialist. Having a neurosurgery spine fellowship-trained surgeon provides us a specialty of service that allows us to provide high-quality care close to home.” said McCutcheon. “I'm excited for what the future holds and looking forward to continuing to grow and expand our neurosurgery spine program.”

Lancaster Medical Center plans to introduce advanced technologies, such as navigation systems and robotics, to enhance neurosurgery and spine surgeries and deliver the highest level of patient care. Jowdy will bring a fresh approach to the region through his specialized use of technology and special interests in spine pathology and spinal conditions.

“I strive to stay up to date so that I can always provide the most advanced, evidence-based care for patients as if they were members of my own family,” said Jowdy. “When I counsel someone about their options, I always ask myself, ‘What would I tell a family member if they were sitting in front of me with this problem?’”

With Jowdy’s expertise and the hospital’s commitment to innovation, patients of MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center now have greater access to cutting-edge neurosurgical care without having to travel. His arrival marks a significant step forward in enhancing the region’s health care services and ensuring that more patients receive the specialized treatment they need, closer to home.

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The Lancaster County School District will review its fee on new home construction to see if it’s high enough, and if it should spread beyond the Indian Land panhandle.

The school board voted last week to study impact fees, a charge on new home or apartment construction to create revenue for school capital projects. Four years ago, Lancaster County Council approved a fee that’s now about $9,000 per home and nearly $10,000 per apartment.

It applies to properties north of S.C. 5, the highway that crosses the panhandle near Van Wyck.

Those fees are lower than similar ones in neighboring communities, they exclude many homes under construction and they don’t apply where a new wave of residential growth is expected.

“We are still reacting to growth in the panhandle,” school board Chairman Melvin Stroble said Thursday at a joint meeting with his board and the county council. “Our goal is to get ahead of growth as it is sprawling toward Lancaster and into Kershaw.”

The council would make the final decision on any changes, including the fee amount or what parts of the county would require fees.

The school board is thankful for the $900,000 collected so far in impact fees, Stroble said, but that amount only goes so far. A failed $588 million bond referendum last November included a new elementary school in Indian Land costing $93 million.

“Impact fees are like a Band-Aid on a gaping wound,” said Council Chairman Brian Carnes. “It’s going to help a little bit, but it’s not going to do what needs to be done. It’s just a small part of that process.”

The school board wants to see if impact fees can become a bigger part.

In Fort Mill, schools got more than $18,000 per new home in 2018, and recently applied to York County Council for a nearly $30,000 per home fee. There’s also concern in Lancaster County that the fee doesn’t apply in enough places.

The county exempted new homes from the fees if developers submitted a site plan prior to the 2021 vote to create school impact fees. Other county land use changes that year and saturation in the panhandle have largely stopped new residential projects in Indian Land.

So now, most of the homes under construction in Indian Land are from earlier agreements, and aren’t required to pay impact fees. School board member Revery Johnson said thousands of houses are being built within 5 miles of his Indian Land home.

“So those houses are being built, even though we’ve shut down new ones,” he said. “That’s fine. The houses are being built. They will have children. We have to deal with them.”

Councilman Jose Luis questioned whether the county could amend its impact fee rule so that it would apply to all developments under construction in Indian Land. Changing the approved exemption would be tricky. It’s hard to get a legal opinion from the state on whether the county could to it, said County Administrator Dennis Marstall.

“It’s untested,” he said.

For the school board, a new impact fee study would consider countywide collection since areas like Catawba Ridge, Edgewater and the city of Lancaster have tens of thousands of homes coming.

There are more than 26,000 lots countywide — more than half the number of residences that exist today — that are approved for home construction but don’t have one built there yet.

The South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office estimates Lancaster County will grow at a faster pace in the 15 years after 2020 than in the record-setting 20 years before it.

Still, school impact fees south of the panhandle are a nonstarter for some decision-makers.

“From talking to my constituents, no,” said Councilwoman Charlene McGriff, a former school board member whose council district covers downtown Lancaster. “North of (Hwy.) 5, is a different story.”

Councilman Steve Harper’s district surrounds the city, and touches rural areas in the westernmost and southernmost parts of the county. He could see impact fees if they target high-construction areas like Edgewater, but not if they cover more remote parts of the county to do it.

“There’s no way I’ll support approving impact fees below (Hwy.) 5,” Harper said. “Adding $10,000 to $15,000 will make houses unaffordable in my part of the world.”

Impact fees are an imperfect option but the school district doesn’t have many others, said Councilman Stuart Graham. He asked council to be receptive to whatever a study might find. There’s also the prospect that more rural areas could see increased growth pressures like Indian Land has, if the county does nothing.

Decisions limiting residential growth in the panhandle already are pushing construction south. Development won’t stop, Carnes said, but it could move.

The school district operates on a $182 million annual budget. The impact fee study will cost about $75,000. At more than 15,000 students and growing, the district continues to look for answers. All of them are expensive.

The board plans to set up a citizen commission and host public input sessions ahead of another school bond vote next spring. Total cost and project lists haven’t been developed.

The panhandle already has 53 mobile classroom units, or trailers, added onto school properties to meet capacity needs. That’s the most of any section of the county, Stroble said, and each new mobile classroom costs about $1 million.

The district has had discussions about the likely unpopular options of shifting attendance boundaries to better fit capacity needs.

“When you talk about attendance zones, parents love their schools,” said district Superintendent Raashad Fitzpatrick. “Communities love their schools. And so that is a sensitive topic.”

Impact fees won’t solve all growth and capacity problems, officials say. School bonds are still necessary. But impact fees at the right amounts and in the right places, they say, can help.

“We need to learn from our past mistakes and try to cut them off in the future,” Carnes said.