(Denmark) -- Governor David M. Beasley today praised the
"grass roots, community-driven" approach in the new South Carolina Rural
Health Regional Office, which he formally opened in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"Under one roof now are five different organizations, and their
whole reason for being is to make health care more accessible and more
affordable for South Carolina's small towns," the Governor said.
In addition to a regional office for the South Carolina State
Office of Rural Health, the new facility will house Low Country Healthy
Start, the Low Country Health Care System Network, the South Carolina Rural
Health Research Center, and Denmark's Community Development Center.
The center will primarily serve Bamberg, Allendale, Hampton and
Orangeburg counties.
The new facility reflects the Governor's goal to give communities
and families the knowledge they need to be healthier. South Carolina is
closer to realizing that goal, as its infant mortality rates drop faster
than most other states and its immunization rate is among the highest in
the nation.
The Governor's Partners for Healthy Children program, begun last
year, has enrolled 47,000 children from low-income families. The children
now have access to regular checkups and unlimited prescriptions from a
family doctor they know.
"Together, we've made some monumental progress in health care,
and I may be prouder of those accomplishments than any other as governor,"
the Governor said today. "But we can't proclaim victory yet, not when there
are still groups who are struggling. We know that poor, rural, minority
communities still aren't seeing the same progress as the rest of the state.
And that's why we're here today."
The Governor praised those involved in increasing access to health
care in rural areas, especially Dr. Monnie Singleton, a national leader
in health care. Dr. Singleton serves on the Governor's Health Advisory
Committee, which is working to erase the disparities in health care.