University Hospital's Aiken expansion stalls

Plans for a University Hospital medical complex on Silver Bluff Road appear to have stalled.

The proposed facility was at the center of a contentious debate in 2009, with area residents and officials with Aiken Regional Medical Centers objecting to bringing the local facility to Aiken. Residents cited traffic concerns, while ARMC proponents said the complex would damage Aiken Regional Medical Centers by luring patients to the Augusta hospital.

After Aiken City Council approved plans, a sign was posted at the time and listed Medical Oncology Associates, University Medical Associates of Aiken and Covenant Pediatrics as the initial tenants. Five doctors were also listed.

Medical Oncology Associates practice administrator Clay Towns said the practice is moving forward in Aiken, just not at the original complex. Rather, they are locating down the road at the Village at Woodside and hopes to have the practice up and running by the end of April.

"Things were very slow moving with the University Complex, and it wasn't meeting our time frame, so we decided to do something different," he said.

When the practice opens, Downs expects four to five staffers, which could grow to a dozen. The three physicians would rotate at the Aiken branch.

Downs said the close proximity to an Aiken Regional Medical Centers' imaging center - which is also being erected in the Villages - helped move the decision forward.

"It (an imaging center) was very important to us," he said.

Aiken Regional CEO Carlos Milanes said the new imaging center was part of a concerted effort to establish an additional Southside presence.

"I would hope that that becomes an additional satellite," he said.

The land on Silver Bluff remains dormant after University Hospital and City Council worked back and forth with one another for months.

University Hospital spokesperson Steve Crawford said he was told the development is on hold.

"All we can say is we don't have any plans to build a building out there right now," he said.

Hospital representatives approached City Council last year with a concept plan for the complex which it wanted to build on land across from the Centre South Shopping Center. Representatives first asked for approval of three buildings with more than 70,000 square feet of office space.

Council sided with residents who were concerned the development would drive up traffic volume on that stretch of road. A traffic study showed the complex would generate 2,730 trips per day.

Council unanimously denied the request on first reading. The plans were then submitted to the City's Planning Commission and revised to reflect that University Hospital move forward with only the first phase of the development - a one-story, 17,000-square-foot building.

A new traffic study indicated the first phase would generate only 610 trips per day.

The revised plans were approved by Council in May. Councilman Dick Dewar voted in opposition.

Crawford said he does not know if University Hospital is actively searching for another possible tenant but added that the business office would not likely release that information until close to securing a deal.

Tom Holbert, practice manager for Coventry Pediatrics out of Augusta, said the practice still hoped to expand to Aiken but was having difficulty locating a physician for the site.

"We've had problems locating a doctor to bring over there, so our plans are kind of on hold," he said.

Holbert said they still intended to house the practice at the proposed University Complex, although other avenues could be sought should a doctor be hired prior to the completion of the medical facility.

"If we found the right person, we'd do something temporary (for office space)," Holbert said.

Stephen Yeomans with University Medical Associates of Aiken did not return phone calls seeking comment by press time.

Dewar is still worried about traffic volume but said his concern may be alleviated somewhat when the dedicated turn lane at Silver Bluff and Dougherty Road is complete and when other improvements - including turn lanes at several intersections, a stoplight at Richardson's Lake Road and a dedicated turn lane into HarborChase of Aiken - are in place.

Though not part of the plan approved by City Council last year, University Hospital could later decide to continue with phases two and three and create additional medical office buildings. However, any additional expansion would have to go before Council again for approval.

City Councilman Don Wells remembers that Council chambers were packed with local residents who spoke for and against University Hospital's plans.

"People were in favor of having options, and some people thought that it would totally undermine the quality of health care in Aiken County," he said.